Copyright Law & Graduate Research [Part5]

Part V: Protecting Your Copyright

Like every new graduate, you no doubt hope your work will influence future research. You would probably be honored to have someone quote from your dissertation, but you would likely appreciate at least a simple request for permission before anyone reprints lengthy excerpts. You also would probably like to promote sales of your dissertation, and you might spend a few more years revising your study for publication as a book or as one or more journal articles. Your writing is the product of your intellect, and copyright law now gives you the set of exclusive privileges to your work. You have the opportunity to promote scholarly work both by protecting your dissertation and by granting rights of use to others.

Remember that copyright privileges now vest immediately upon creating your work, without the requirement of notice or registration formalities. You should nevertheless include a copyright notice on your dissertation. It signals to readers that you acknowledge your legal rights and that you are the copyright owner. It also tells the year you first published the project. Typical copyright notices take this form:

Copyright 2001, Jane Student

or

© 2001, Jane Student

The notice should appear in a conspicuous location, customarily just after the title page. You might see additional language and other explanations about rights and restrictions in various other publications. These supplemental statements are strictly optional and are not part of the Copyright Act. Their legal effect might also be dubious. Some publications, especially scholarly journals from nonprofit organizations, include statements specifically granting rights of copying for educational purposes, enabling some users to exceed fair use without further permission. Unless you have good advice and have considered fully the implications of these provisions, you should keep your copyright notice simple.

Registration is also technically optional, but still recommended. It establishes a public record of your dissertation, the copyright, and your name and address. At least for American publications, registration is required before you can file an infringement lawsuit. You should therefore register before that possibility ever arises then hope it never does. Timely registration bestows additional legal rights, particularly the ability to receive "statutory damages" and attorney fees in an infringement action. Those remedies may be your sole monetary award from an infringer. In general, you must register before the infringement occurs to have these benefits.

One final reason for registration is the prospect of your dissertation being added to the Library of Congress collection a flattering prospect indeed. Generally, two copies of a new work must accompany the registration application, and they may eventually be added to the library’s collection. If your work is published, but you choose not to register the copyright, you still have to submit the copies for deposit. Thus, early registration secures your rights and satisfies the deposit requirement as well. UMI can do the registration for you and deposit the required copies. You may instead register the copyright yourself by filing the appropriate forms. Appendix C lists various materials from the Copyright Office to guide you. You will also find that the deposit requirement does not apply in the same manner to all types of works; for example, the Copyright Office does not require copies of most computer programs, and it requires only single copies of videos.

An advantage of publishing your dissertation through UMI is that you may allow UMI to prepare the registration forms and to make the deposit of copies on your behalf. UMI’s instructions for submitting dissertations describe the registration service. In partnership with the Copyright Office and the Library of Congress, UMI is able to provide both a microfiche and a digital copy of your dissertation with the registration form. Submitting dissertations in digital format allows you to meet the legal requirements in an efficient manner, and enables the Library of Congress to make your dissertation readily available to researchers.

Consult with your faculty advisor and your graduate dean if you have any unusual complications in claiming ownership to your dissertation’s copyright. For example, are you actually a co-author of the dissertation with another student or faculty member? A professor who actually contributed to copyrightable elements of your dissertation might actually be deemed a co-owner of your work. Did you receive support from a foundation or the university? Some funding grants may specify the terms of ownership of resulting works. Does your university’s copyright ownership policy address dissertations? Some policies specify that the university has rights to graduate dissertations and theses. Does your dissertation reprint material that you published elsewhere? If you had earlier published portions of the dissertation as an article, for example, you may have assigned the copyright of those portions to the publisher. Carefully review your publishing agreement.

Finally, the medium you choose for publication can affect your decision about copyright protection and other complex matters. In particular, if you publish your dissertation on the Internet without restrictions on access, you may clearly hold the copyright, but as a practical matter you will have little or no oversight about the use of your work by others. For most graduate students, widespread access and use of one’s dissertation is probably a welcome prospect. Other students may feel more protective and allow copies only through UMI or another entity that will authorize access and collect revenues. Publication on the Internet also raises numerous issues beyond copyright. For example, publication on the web will not jeopardize your copyright, but it may undermine the patentability of inventions disclosed in the dissertation. Some journals will also reject articles that are based on materials already disclosed on websites. You should investigate and consider carefully such subtle, but highly important, issues before making your dissertation widely available.

Part V: Protecting Your Copyright
Like every new graduate, you no doubt hope your work will influence future research. You would probably be honored to have someone quote from your dissertation, but you would likely appreciate at least a simple request for permission before anyone reprints lengthy excerpts. You also would probably like to promote sales of your dissertation, and you might spend a few more years revising your study for publication as a book or as one or more journal articles. Your writing is the product of your intellect, and copyright law now gives you the set of exclusive privileges to your work. You have the opportunity to promote scholarly work both by protecting your dissertation and by granting rights of use to others. Remember that copyright privileges now vest immediately upon creating your work, without the requirement of notice or registration formalities. You should nevertheless include a copyright notice on your dissertation. It signals to readers that you acknowledge your legal rights and that you are the copyright owner. It also tells the year you first published the project. Typical copyright notices take this form: Copyright 2001, Jane Student or © 2001, Jane Student
The notice should appear in a conspicuous location, customarily just after the title page. You might see additional language and other explanations about rights and restrictions in various other publications. These supplemental statements are strictly optional and are not part of the Copyright Act. Their legal effect might also be dubious. Some publications, especially scholarly journals from nonprofit organizations, include statements specifically granting rights of copying for educational purposes, enabling some users to exceed fair use without further permission. Unless you have good advice and have considered fully the implications of these provisions, you should keep your copyright notice simple. Registration is also technically optional, but still recommended. It establishes a public record of your dissertation, the copyright, and your name and address. At least for American publications, registration is required before you can file an infringement lawsuit. You should therefore register before that possibility ever arises then hope it never does. Timely registration bestows additional legal rights, particularly the ability to receive "statutory damages" and attorney fees in an infringement action. Those remedies may be your sole monetary award from an infringer. In general, you must register before the infringement occurs to have these benefits. One final reason for registration is the prospect of your dissertation being added to the Library of Congress collection a flattering prospect indeed. Generally, two copies of a new work must accompany the registration application, and they may eventually be added to the library’s collection. If your work is published, but you choose not to register the copyright, you still have to submit the copies for deposit. Thus, early registration secures your rights and satisfies the deposit requirement as well. UMI can do the registration for you and deposit the required copies. You may instead register the copyright yourself by filing the appropriate forms. Appendix C lists various materials from the Copyright Office to guide you. You will also find that the deposit requirement does not apply in the same manner to all types of works; for example, the Copyright Office does not require copies of most computer programs, and it requires only single copies of videos. An advantage of publishing your dissertation through UMI is that you may allow UMI to prepare the registration forms and to make the deposit of copies on your behalf. UMI’s instructions for submitting dissertations describe the registration service. In partnership with the Copyright Office and the Library of Congress, UMI is able to provide both a microfiche and a digital copy of your dissertation with the registration form. Submitting dissertations in digital format allows you to meet the legal requirements in an efficient manner, and enables the Library of Congress to make your dissertation readily available to researchers. Consult with your faculty advisor and your graduate dean if you have any unusual complications in claiming ownership to your dissertation’s copyright. For example, are you actually a co-author of the dissertation with another student or faculty member? A professor who actually contributed to copyrightable elements of your dissertation might actually be deemed a co-owner of your work. Did you receive support from a foundation or the university? Some funding grants may specify the terms of ownership of resulting works. Does your university’s copyright ownership policy address dissertations? Some policies specify that the university has rights to graduate dissertations and theses. Does your dissertation reprint material that you published elsewhere? If you had earlier published portions of the dissertation as an article, for example, you may have assigned the copyright of those portions to the publisher. Carefully review your publishing agreement. Finally, the medium you choose for publication can affect your decision about copyright protection and other complex matters. In particular, if you publish your dissertation on the Internet without restrictions on access, you may clearly hold the copyright, but as a practical matter you will have little or no oversight about the use of your work by others. For most graduate students, widespread access and use of one’s dissertation is probably a welcome prospect. Other students may feel more protective and allow copies only through UMI or another entity that will authorize access and collect revenues. Publication on the Internet also raises numerous issues beyond copyright. For example, publication on the web will not jeopardize your copyright, but it may undermine the patentability of inventions disclosed in the dissertation. Some journals will also reject articles that are based on materials already disclosed on websites. You should investigate and consider carefully such subtle, but highly important, issues before making your dissertation widely available.