Copyright and Your Thesis

Donald Taylor, Copyright OfficerJennifer Zerkee, Copyright Specialistcopy@sfu.cacopyright.sfu.ca

What is copyright?

What is copyright?

The right to “produce or reproduce the work or any substantial part thereof in any material form whatever” and also to:

• perform the work in public• publish the work• translate the work• adapt the work to another format (e.g. novel to film, film to play)• record a literary, dramatic or musical work• broadcast the work• exhibit an artistic work• rent out a computer program or a recording of a musical work• sell a work in the form of a tangible object (in certain circumstances)• authorize others to do any of these acts

Copyright infringement:Doing something that only the copyright owner has the legal right to do

Once upon a time…

Let’s go!

What is not protectedby copyright?

popcorn

What is not protectedby copyright?

http://chemistry.about.com/od/factsstructures/ig/Chemical-Structures---S/Sucrose.-eb3.htm#step-heading

http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688?lang=en

http://vancouver.weatherstats.ca/charts/precipitation-1year.html

Infographic by Ivonne Penahttp://theenergycollective.com/ivonnepena/281366/who-most-responsible-climate-change-infographic

How long does copyright last?

General rule: life plus 50 (though there are some exceptions)

Then what?

Public domain• Copyright has expired• Works can be used freely by anyone• Different terms in different countries

Emily Carr, Edge of the Forest1935Photo: Art Country Canadahttp://www.artcountrycanada.com/group-of-seven-carr.htm

What is fair dealing?A permitted method of infringing copyright for these purposes:

researchprivate studyeducationparody

satirecriticismreviewnews reporting

Copying material for your thesis under fair dealing

To qualify as fair dealing the use must:• Be for one of the fair dealing purposes• Meet the “six criteria” test set out by the Supreme Court of Canada:

– Purpose of the dealing– Character of the dealing– Amount of the dealing– Alternatives to using the work– Nature of the work– Effect of the use on the work

If you have questions as to whether or not fair dealing may apply to the use of third party works in your thesis, please contact the Copyright Office at copy@sfu.ca.

User-friendly licenses and copyright-free material

• User-friendly licenses– Creative Commons licenses (creativecommons.org)

“CC BY-NC 4.0” or– Open Access material (not just “openly accessible”)– Website terms of use

• Material not protected by copyright– Facts and data– Public domain material– An “insubstantial” amount– Links/URLs

Asking permission

• Who is the copyright holder? Can you locate them?• Look for “Rights” or “Permissions” on publisher/journal website,

or try the Copyright Clearance Centre: www.copyright.com

• Leave plenty of time for this process• Use the template letter to cover your bases

• What if you can’t get permission?• Copyright owners have the right to impose conditions

Copyright in your thesis

You own copyright in your thesis• However, you are required to grant licenses to SFU Library and Library and Archives

Canada• These licenses do not restrict your right to further publish your work

Questions?

copyright.sfu.cacopy@sfu.ca