Hi Charles,
sorry if you've already answered this question and I missed it. Is the default legal assumption, then, that the author *gives permission* or that the author *does not give permission*? In other words, if permission has not been explicitly withrawn, is the thesis safe to copy, or must one always seek permission?
Would it be good practice for libraries holding theses on their shelves to endeavour to establish the author's wishes when the thesis is lodged with the library and insert a notice into any thesis that must not be reproduced?
How do BL approach this with theses lodged there? Ethos now harvests institutional repositories.
I totally take your point on risk management.
And I hope you are well!
Veronica [Harry]
Veronica Murray
Subject Librarian (Health Care, Nursing and Midwifery)
University of the West of Scotland
Paisley Campus
Paisley PA1 2BE
0141-848-3760
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From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and discussion. [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of C Oppenheim [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 28 May 2010 14:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Referencing from theses/dissertations
I would like to comment on your summary of responses.
A copy of a thesis if validly requested under Freedom of Information Act is NOT a published work. It can only be used by the requestor for his/her FoI purposes and may not be further reproduced - the FoI Act and the Copyright Act are totally clear on that point.
Tim Padfield's book goes into considerable detail as to what is meant by "published" and makes it clear the mere putting of an item on a library shelf does not make it published. In all probability, then, a thesis is an unpublished work. The fact that it has passed an examination is irrelevant. What counts is whether multiple copies have been made to satisfy demand for copies. As an unpublished work, a thesis can be copied by, or on behalf of a patron so long as the depositor has not said it can't be copied. Fair dealing CANNOT over-rule a depositor's wishes.
The KEY question is not, however, the formal legal position, but the management of risk; if someone ignores a depositor's request and makes a copy anyway, how likely is it that they will be found out? That's the real issue!
Charles
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From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and discussion. [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Graham Fennell [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 28 May 2010 14:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Referencing from theses/dissertations
Thanks to everyone who responded to my enquiry about the copyright status of theses and dissertations. As promised, I am reporting back a summary of responses. There is no particular consensus on the matter because the law appears, to an extent, to be open to interpretation. However, most people suggest a degree of leniency as regards quoting from theses held in library collections.
Thanks,
Graham
Summary of responses:
1) I think that this was discussed on lis-copyseek a couple of years ago at least! I think that the upshot was that you can't prevent people from referencing, under copyright law. But I'd be very interested to hear more about where this came from and why it might exist because I think you're right, the statement has been used with old theses at a number of institutions.
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2) Surely fair-dealing under copyright law exists for theses too, just so
long as the quotation is acknowledged. To be on the safe side, we have
now tried to track down as many authors of older theses as possible,
asking them what reproduction they would allow and we keep their reply
with the thesis. For more recent submissions we ask at the time of
receipt of the thesis what reproduction authors will allow.
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3) No firm foundation to start with because there is no agreement over whether a thesis is technically an unpublished work or whether it is a published work.
Fair dealing applies to all works whether published or unpublished, and although it is a defence rather than an exception, there may still be a case whereby someone could argue that quoting from a thesis without obtaining copyright permission could be fair dealing. It would take a court case to decide, but one could argue that the thesis is "made available to the public" simply by virtue of it being on a library shelf.
Now, if the thesis has been embargoed or contains sensitive information of some sort, then it is possible that copyright permission would need to be sought to reproduce aspects of it such as short quotations.
A thesis, once requested under Freedom of Information Act, is effectively turned into a published work.
Generally accepted that students writing a thesis can quote from other theses under the provisions of fair dealing. There may also be the educational exception for assessed work which applies here too - which states that anything used for the purposes of assessment does not infringe copyright in the original work.
I would say that short quotations from theses, particularly for criticism and review, are acceptable.
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4) The situation is that reproducing any of a thesis is NOT permitted ONLY so long as the author had expressly stated he/she did not to permit such reproduction. A library notice without such explicit instructions has no legal validity.
It depends on whether the authors of theses were specifically asked if they wished to restrict copying? Only if they were asked and agreed to this restriction does the restriction stand. However, if the library has no record of this, then it's best to respect the terms of the notice.
It is generally agreed a thesis is an unpublished work and yes, this is enshrined in the law.
A good reference source for all of this is Tim Padfield's excellent "Copyright for Archivists and Records Managers", Facet, 2010 - see chapter 5.3.12
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5) What exactly is an 'unpublished work'?
If the author of a thesis deposits a copy in a library knowing that without an explicit request to the contrary it will be made publicly available for consultation are they not effectively publishing it?
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6) A thesis usually counts as published work if it has passed the exam/examination (thus fit for publication). There can be many exceptions so one may have to take it on a case by case basis if there is any uncertainty. Ensure one reads and implements all the instructions from all libraries and publishers.
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7) My feeling would be that without permission, lecturers can quote a small amount (as long as it is not the most important small amount) without permission, as long as they cite where they took it from and who wrote the work. If it is more than approx. 5% or the most important part, then they really should get permission.
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