Copyright at Trent

• Does your thesis contain third party copyrighted work? Examples are text, figures, maps, images, questionnaires, photos, etc.
• Does your thesis contain your own previously published materials (e.g., journal article) for which you no longer retain the rights?
• Does your thesis include material (e.g., a chapter, an article) that was co-written with another author(s)?
• Does the content exceed fair dealing? (For help with fair dealing, please consult Trent University's Use of Copyrighted Material Guidelines or contact copyright@trentu.ca.)
• If your thesis contains third party content that exceeds fair dealing, you may need to secure permission to reproduce the material.

Securing copyright permission may take time. We recommend seeking any needed permissions early in the thesis preparation process. Some publishers provide (on their website or in the material given to you when your article was accepted) a policy statement granting permission to publish your work in a thesis.

Jisc Open Policy Finder (formerly Sherpa Romeo) website helps you determinine publishers’ polices.

Rightslink helps you secure copyright permission.

Copyright Permission Request - Sample Text

If you need to request permission, we suggest that you refer to, or use, the wording of the copyright permission request sample text below. An original, signed letter on the copyright holder’s letterhead is your best protection against accusations of copyright violation, but email proof of permission from publishers or co-authors is acceptable. Keep copies of all documents for your own records.

Date:

Re: Permission to Use Copyrighted Material in a Doctoral/Master’s Thesis

Dear:

I am a Trent University graduate student completing my Doctoral / Master’s thesis entitled “____***_____”.

My thesis will be available in full text on the internet for reference, study and / or copy. Except in situations where a thesis is under embargo or restriction, the electronic version will be accessible through the Trent University Libraries Digital Theses and Dissertations Collection, the Library’s web catalogue, and also through web search engines. I will also be granting Library and Archives Canada and ProQuest a non-exclusive license to reproduce, loan, distribute, or sell single copies of my thesis by any means and in any form or format. These rights will in no way restrict re-publication of the material in any other form by you or by others authorized by you.

I would like permission to allow inclusion of the following material in my thesis: [insert copy or detailed explanation including the title of the article or book, the figure or page numbers of the material used, the journal name, year, volume number or unique publication identifier, the publisher and year]. The material will be attributed through a citation.

Please confirm in writing or by email that these arrangements meet with your approval.

Sincerely

Your Name and Signature

Denied or Unavailable Permission

Occasionally, permission to use copyrighted material cannot be secured, or is denied. Do not reproduce copyrighted material in your thesis beyond what is allowed by fair dealing without permission. Remove the copyrighted material. You will proceed differently according to the nature of the material.

For example, in the case of an image of an artifact or artwork, you may include a description of what is missing, a full citation of the source of the material, and where it can be found. Include an explanation that the material has been removed because of copyright restrictions.

In the case of a thesis chapter that was previously published as a journal article, you should include in place of the chapter an abstract of the chapter content and a link to the journal website where the original article can be read.