Engineering Graduate Students

Copyright Permission

Copyright of the Author: As the author you automatically obtain copyrights to your thesis. Copyright grants to you all rights of reproduction. Registration is not necessary unless the need arises to claim infringement. If you wish to register your Copyright, contact the government directly at the Copyright Office, or commission UMI (Ph.D. only) to do it for you.

Copyright of Others: Figures, tables, pictures, etc. copied directly from a publication must be credited, but may also require permission to reproduce in your thesis.

To use a figure, table, etc. in your thesis:

• Determine if the item is protected. Ideas are not protected by copyright. It is the expression of ideas or facts that can be protected, but there may be no copyright.

1. there may be no copyright or the copyright may have run out. There would be no copyright if a book was published:
       - prior to 1923
       - between 1923 and 1964 and was not renewed. Check to see if it was renewed.
       - between 1964 and 1989 without a copyright symbol (©)


2. the material may not be copyrightable (e.g. federal government documents and listings of facts).

• If protected:

• Is the use allowed by the copyright owner? Often societies promote extensive use of the scholarly material they publish. Check the inside cover of the journal, or contact the organization by phone or email.
• Does the use come under the "fair use" jurisdiction, which does not require permission? Evaluate the material through the four factors determining "fair use"; educational use, scholarly material, inconsequential amount, and no market effect signify "fair use".
  1. Purpose. Although your thesis is fundamentally "educational", it may take on a "commercial" aspect if it is displayed digitally, and certainly when it is sold by UMI (Ph.D.'s).
  2. Nature. Fair use for published scholarly works is less restrictive than for unpublished works (e.g. lecture notes, presentations, reports, etc.).
  3. Amount. Some believe that quoting is allowed within certain word counts, but it actually depends on the essence of the quote. Some considered a graph, table, or picture to be the "whole" or an essential part of the whole.
  4. Effect on the Potential Market. This is usually the most critical factor with the courts. Your thesis must bear no potential competition-for the original work. For instance, if your thesis contained a third-party copy of an important graph, someone could copy it for free or relatively low cost through your work, rather than purchase the journal issue in which it was originally published.
   Find more information at Washington State University's site.


• Obtain permission if necessary:
Write a letter requesting permission to copy (sample letter). To ascertain the copyright owner check with the publisher first, or try the Copyright Search engine. Include all necessary information when requesting permission. If you have difficulty finding the copyright owner or contacting the owner, there are organizations, which grant permissions for the work of others (for a fee). For example, the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) offers a Republication Licensing Service (RLS) under "Services" at www.copyright.com.


• If permission is obtained: Credit the work in the same way and indicate that permission has been obtained in smaller font adjacent to the Work. Sample wording:

  [Reprinted with permission of (Rightsholder's name) from (Work's Citation)]

Contact Engineering Librarian , Scholes Library with any questions.
Updated 12/09