Copyright Law and your thesis:guidance for postgraduate research students

http://www.liv.ac.uk/library irhelp@liv.ac.uk

Presentation adapted from: Gaz J Johnson and Katie Fraser (2011) Keeping your thesis legal: copyright in a nutshell for doctoral students. Leicester: University of Leicester. http://www2.le.ac.uk/library/downloads/copyright/Keepingthesis%20legal-Nov-2011-V4.0.pdf

Aims and outcomes

• Increase your appreciation of the modern academic copyright environment

• Understand the practical steps to dealing with copyright and electronic theses

• Learn more about the modern scholarly communication environment

Legal Disclaimer

I am not a lawyer. The guidance given in this presentation is based on my professional experience and guidance developed by JISC. It should not be construed as legal advice. If you require specialist legal advice you should speak to one of the university’s legal representatives or consult a specialist lawyer.

Overview

• Background: e-theses at Liverpool– Regulations – Theses and etheses– Open access and scholarly communication

• Rights– Introduction to copyright– Recognising and mitigating risks– Gaining rights permissions

Background to e-theses at Liverpool

Regulations at Liverpool

• Postgraduate research students who registered on or after the 1st August 2008

• A digital copy must be deposited in the Institutional Repository (Research Archive)

• It should be the final versions, including any corrections required by the examiners

• It is not necessary to submit a printed copy to the library

• Library and Graduate School web pages– Provide more information– Include documentation and guidance

Open Access to Research

• Open access to scholarly publications– Born in late 1990’s in STEM subjects– Academic frustration over inability to access published

research from own institutions– Went mainstream in the early 2000’s

• All Russell Group Universities have repositories– 148 institutional repositories in the UK– 20 institutional research mandates (including Liverpool)– Most also require doctoral theses deposited

electronically

Benefits of eTheses

• Enhances accessibility and discoverability– More easily found by scholars– Enhanced global readership prospects– Protects against plagiarism

• Increases visibility– Enhances your professional visibility– Helps establish your early career reputation– Professional recognition for your scholastic contribution

• Increases citation– More visible work is more likely to be cited– Citations are crucial for professional advancement– Permanent, stable URL link to your thesis for life

eTheses availability

• The full text will be available from the Liverpool Research Archive (UoLRA)– Thesis readership 20-100 a month

• Records and links back to the full text will be included in:– ETHOS: the UK Electronic Theses Online Service,

http://ethos.bl.uk– DART: the European E-Theses Portal,

http://www.dart-europe.eu/• Scholars will be a able to find via specialist search tools

such as OpenDoar as well as search engines

Background: Recap

• You must deposit your thesis electronically

• It will usually be available on open access

• There are benefits to making your thesis available

• Your thesis will be highly visible and so will you

Rights – what they are and why they matter

UK copyright in brief 1• Copyright is automatic and does not need to be

claimed–The rights holder is the owner of the

copyright• The rights holder can sell or transfer rights -

assignment–The other party is then the new rights holder–Moral rights are always retained by the

creator

UK copyright in brief 2• The rights holder can give others

permission to use the works• Only the rights holder can permit reuse,

adaptation or distribution of a copyrighted work

• Organisations may claim copyright under terms of employment or funding

• The relevant UK legislation is the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 (amended)

Using copyright works

• You can use copyright works if:– You own the rights – The rights holder gives you permission– The rights have expired– Under certain statutory copyright exemptions

• Permission to reuse can be:– one-off or ongoing– specific to a purpose or general– exclusive or nonexclusive– or may be given as an open licence allowing liberal reuse

rightsAdapted from: JISC Legal (2011) The Little Guide to Copyright. Bristol, JISC Digital Media. Available from http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/pdf/little-guide-to-copyright.pdf

What are the copyright exceptions?• Limited use of copyright works without

permission is possible in certain circumstances: – Using an insubstantial part of a work– Fair dealing for non-commercial research and private

study, criticism and review– Anything done for the purposes of setting or

answering an examination • If you are copying a substantial proportion, or

disseminating it widely, you may need permission

Adapted from: JISC Legal (2011) The Little Guide to Copyright. Bristol, JISC Digital Media. Available from http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/pdf/little-guide-to-copyright.pdf

What is third party copyright material?

• Third party copyright = anything in which someone else may have vested rights of ownership

Fair dealing, criticism and review

• What constitutes “a substantial part” is not clear cut– Substantial = qualitatively significant – Cornish (2009) gives the following examples:• a report’s recommendations and conclusions may be

classed as a substantial part even if they are only 3 paragraphs in an 80 page report• Four bars of a symphony could constitute a substantial

part because they encapsulate theme

Fair dealing, criticism and review

• If you are using a “substantial” amount of third party copyright material in your thesis ...

• ... and are unable to justify it for the purposes of criticism or review ...

• ... you will need to seek permission for its inclusion in your thesis

• It is a better strategy to ask for permission

Creative Commons

• A way to propagate the reuse of work– Permits reuse without permission request– Some predefined limitations and restrictions can

be applied– Internationally recognised

• Recognised by search engines– Search for work that permits reuse– Some issues around sharing permissions

Recognising risk / levels of risk 1

• Permitted (no risk)– Using your own work, where you remain the rights

holder– Reusing items with permission or where copyright

licenses/terms and conditions clearly permit use

Recognising risk / levels of risk 2

• May be permitted under a fair dealing defence (some risk)– Reusing material under the fair dealing defence– Reusing extracts within a lecture or examination

Recognising risk / levels of risk 3

• Not permitted (high risk)– Posting 3rd party material to the web without

permission– Using large and significant extracts, images,

diagrams etc without permission

3rd party copyright: practical steps

• Check the original item to see what is permitted– Website terms and conditions or copyright notices are

useful guides• Some resources may offer licensed re-use– Creative commons licenses can be helpful

• When in doubt assume items are in copyright– Permission must explicitly be sought– Many non-commercial rights holders will grant permission

for eTheses– Some rights holders may expect fees and charges [you’re

not expected to pay]

Sample Copyright notice

Reproduced under Crown Copyright from http://www.bis.gov.uk/site/copyright

Seeking permissions

1. Identify the rights holder2. Formally request permission to include item• Be specific about what you intend to use it for • e.g. for inclusion in an eTheses to be deposited in an open

access repository

3. Keep records of all correspondence• May need to show proof of permission

4. Repeat request after 6 weeks if you haven’t heard anything• Try phone/e-mail/post etc

5. Leave plenty of time to get all permissions

Sample permission request

When should you request permission?

• The more time you give yourself the better

• When you start your research, start to collect permissions

• Don’t leave it until you’re about to submit!

Managing riskWhat if the rights holders don’t respond or you include an Orphan Work?

1. Submit 2 versions• Edited thesis along with non-cleared items removed• Full version, including any corrections required by the

examiners• Only the edited version will be made available

2. Submit with the items included• Only for orphan works• Must have a documented record of attempts to trace rights

holders• This is a higher risk strategy

The UoLRA operates a Notice and Takedown Policy for legal challenges

Confidential/Sensitive information

• Does you thesis contain confidential or sensitive information?– Conditions of funding can restrict what can be

shared– Commercial, ethical, national security or other

confidentiality issues with content or data• Your options– Create an edited version with confidential/sensitive

materials removed– Restrict access for up to five years

Thesis publication

• Check what 3rd party materials rights were granted– Permission to include an item in a thesis does NOT

cover including it in a different publication– Some CC licenses and other T & C’s allow scholarly

use but not commercial publication• eThesis availability is sharing and not

publication

Rights recap

• Always attribute your sources• Never assume you have reuse

rights• If in any doubts ask permission• Seeking permission will take

time• Aim to manage and minimise

your exposure to copyright risk

Practicalities

Submission process

Restricting access to your thesis

• You can restrict access for up to five years• Reasons for restricting access include– Planning to publish from your thesis– Commercial confidentiality– Security – Ethical reasons

• Requires both Supervisor and DDPR co-signature

Which version should you deposit

• You must deposit the final accepted version after you have had your VIVA and after any amendments that were required by examiners have been made.

• If your thesis contains third party copyright material and you do not have permission to use you may need to deposit two versions of your thesis– The full version including 3rd party material (this will NOT be

made publicly available)– An edited version with the third party material taken out and

replaced with a text description (this version will be available)

eThesis Submission

• Your thesis must be submitted in PDF format– MS Word and other word processors have a Save

as pdf function– PDF creation software such as Adobe Pro

• Supplementary files can be included in other formats but please contact us for advice before you deposit your thesis

• Submit your thesis online at http://research-archive.liv.ac.uk

Support and advice

• Graduate School for thesis submission documents including the Thesis Access Declaration form

• Library provides advice on archiving, copyright policies etc– E-mail: irhelp@liv.ac.uk– Telephone: 0151 794 2832– Visit the Research Archive Office on the 1st floor of the

Abercromby Wing of the Sydney Jones Library– Enquiries will be dealt with between 9:00 and 17:00 Mon –

Fri.

Practicalities recap

• Your thesis will be available from the UoLRA and ETHOS sites

• It must be submitted in PDF format• Access can be restricted for up to five years– You must indicate this on the TAD form and have it

co-signed by your supervisor and DDPR• Support is available throughout the process if

required

Key points

• eTheses help you by making your work more widely available

• You are required by the University regulations to deposit your thesis electronically

• You must get permission to include other people’s work (third party copyright)

• Make use of the advice and support

Image creditsLegal disclaimerPumpkin Moon, Oak Park by Litandmore at http://www.flickr.com/photos/litandmore/2321110241/in/photostream/

BackgroundVictoria Building, University of LiverpoolPadlocks by vpickering at http://www.flickr.com/photos/vpickering/5644094400/

RightsFinal3 by TilarX at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tylerstefanich/2117633427/Linux Journal 144 by jonwatson at http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatsink/109078594/The Best of The Johnny Cash TV Show by shannonpartrick17 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannonpatrick17/3333759355/ research by hackett at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hackett/140118311/CC logo by Creative Commons from http://creativecommons.org/about/downloads Y ahora? - Explore! by Lisandro M. Enrique at http://www.flickr.com/photos/latente/6199716355/ Tight rope by hdc at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hommedechevre/2066658622/ Nuts & Bolts Old by zebbie at http://www.flickr.com/photos/zebble/9621007/