RE: [digital-copyright] Copyright protected works used in ETD and made accessible via institutional repository

[Gail Clement <gclement@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Nora and other colleagues,

The subject of copyright and included third party works in ETDs in a commonly
recurring topic on the ETD-L listserv and you can find past postings on this
topic in the listserv archives at http://listserv.vt.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=ETD-L.

That said, it is sometimes the case that included third party works may be
included in the ETD under the provision of Fair Use, and the fact that the ETD
is disseminated via the open access repository is generally thought to be okay
in such a scenario.  However, if the ETD were to be distributed by a
commercial publisher through its fee-based database, the fair use rationale
may need to be reconsidered.

In the situation you describe, however, permission has been secured so it now
seems that the ETD author is acting under a license (another term for
permission).  It is important in such a case to follow the conditions included
the license.  In the request for permission, did the student specify that the
work was being distributed in the OA repository?  if so, the permission should
cover that.  If the student did not specify how the work was being
distributed, the student may need to confirm with the party providing the
permission. OR...

.....Alternatively, the student could assess his use of the third party
materials in the ETD to see if it falls within Fair Use.  If it does, no
permission is needed.  With Fair Use, the "permission" is coming from US
Copyright statute, US Code, Title 17, Section 107.

Gail Clement

Gail P. Clement
Scholarly Communications Librarian & Associate Professor
Digital Services and Scholarly Communication
University Libraries
Texas A&M University
gclement@xxxxxxxx

5000 TAMU | College Station, TX 77843-5000 | 
Tel. 979.862.1635 | Fax. 979.845.6238  
http://library.tamu.edu





-----Original Message-----
From: Nora Allred [mailto:nsallred@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 1:22 PM
To: digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [digital-copyright] Copyright protected works used in ETD and made
accessible via institutional repository

Dear Colleagues,

We are setting up our institutional repository and encountered a question from
a student about copyright permission and making his thesis open access.  The
student's thesis contains copyright protected work.
 Permission was obtained and documented for the work to appear in the thesis.
Can the student make the thesis open access for the institutional repository
without requesting permission for the specific use of the IR (which is open
access?)  Is the institution at risk by putting any thesis/dissertation into
the IR without checking the permissions first?  Or does the original rights
holder assume that their content will be subsequently copied (either through
OA or the selling of copies of the thesis through a publisher) without
royalty?

Any insights would be very much appreciated.  Thank you in advance for your
consideration.

Sincerley,
Nora Allred

--
Nora Allred
Reference & Copyright Librarian
Interlibrary Loan Coordinator (EZT, za007) J. R. Van Pelt and Opie Library
Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI 49931
906-487-3208