Copyright in Theses and Dissertations

Who Owns Copyright in a Thesis or Dissertation?

At Western, graduate students generally own the copyright in their thesis or dissertation, unless:

The work is subject to a sponsorship or research contract assigning ownership elsewhere; or
The student has transferred rights through a publication agreement.

Supervisors, co-authors, and Western University itself do not automatically own the copyright unless a written agreement states otherwise.

When you submit your thesis for final publication, you grant Western University a non- exclusive license to publish it in Western University’s Open Repository. You also authorize Library and Archives Canada to make it accessible online.

Tip: Keep a copy of any agreements or publication contracts related to your research outputs.

Including Third-Party Material

Students are responsible for ensuring that any third-party content (e.g., figures, tables, photographs, or excerpts) included in the thesis complies with copyright law.

Does your thesis contain someone else's work (e.g., figures, maps, images, questionnaires, photos, etc.)?
Does your thesis contain your own previously published materials (e.g., a journal article)?
Does your thesis include material that was co-written with another author (e.g., a chapter, an article)?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you must ensure that your use of this content complies with copyright law. This may be achieved by:

Approach	When to Use	Requirements
Fair Dealing	Small portions for analysis, commentary, or criticism.	Must meet fairness factors and include attribution.
Licensed Content	Material accessed through Western Libraries databases.	Check license terms — many prohibit republication.
Public Domain or Open License	Expired or openly licensed works (e.g., Creative Commons).	Confirm license conditions; attribute properly.
Permission Granted	When neither Fair Dealing nor a license applies.	Obtain and retain written permission from the rights holder.

Always document how permission was obtained and retain correspondence with your records.

Cite Your Sources

Any copyrighted material used in your thesis, including photos, pictures, charts, graphs, maps, etc. must receive full citation. Each citation must include the copyright symbol, name of the copyright holder (who may or may not be the author) and a statement that the use or adaptation (in the case of adapted graphics) is by permission of the copyright holder. If you are using openly licensed material, include the license under which the work was initially shared.

Permission Denied? Unavailable?

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

In the case of an image of an artifact or artwork, for example, 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.

Using Your Own Published Work

If your thesis will include previously published material (articles, book chapters, etc.):

Review your publication agreements to confirm what rights you retained.
Many publishers allow deposit of the accepted manuscript version with proper citation; this means you could use the accepted manuscript version in your thesis, with proper citation.
Include a note in the thesis identifying where each chapter was published and any changes from the published version.
If necessary, request reuse permission from the publisher using the Permission Request template.

Privacy

Canadian privacy legislation requires the removal of personal information from theses. This includes:

Signatures
Contact Information such as email addresses, personal telephone numbers, and home addresses. Generic contact information for organizations or business is acceptable.

Parts of a thesis that often include personal information are:

Appendices
Copies of signed forms, such as research ethics approval
Copies of signed letters such as those accompanying a survey or letters of consent to research participants
Copies of survey instrument/s with contact details

Photographs of human research participants may not be used unless participants have given documented prior permission for such use as part of the Research Ethics Board approved formal consent process.

If you are planning on using photographs in your thesis or dissertation, keep in mind that your thesis or dissertation will be publicly available, and that you need to protect the privacy of your research participants.

Obtain permission from anyone who is identifiable in photographs, even if the photograph was taken in a public place
If this isn’t feasible, consider blurring faces or using a different photograph

Deposit and Access in Western University’s Open Repository

Upon completion, graduate theses are submitted to Western University’s Open Repository, the institutional repository that provides open online access.

Before deposit:

Verify that all third-party material is cleared for online distribution.
Ensure that proper attribution is included for each figure, image, or excerpt.
Confirm that any publisher embargoes are respected, by requesting an embargo on your thesis.

Embargoes temporarily delay public release to accommodate publication, patent, or confidentiality requirements. Requests for embargoes must be approved by your graduate program and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS).

Creative Commons Licenses

You may wish to grant certain rights to people who would like to use the material in your thesis, while still retaining copyright over your work. You can do this by applying a Creative Commons license to your thesis, which you can do when you upload your thesis to the Open Repository.

There are six types of Creative Commons license to choose from. To learn more, visit the Western Libraries Creative Commons Licensing page or use the Creative Commons Chooser.

Moral Rights and Attribution

Even when permission is granted, the creator retains moral rights. Always acknowledge the source and avoid altering or cropping a work in ways that could prejudice its integrity.

At minimum, include:

Common Scenarios

Scenario	Recommended Action
You include figures from a journal article.	Check the publisher’s policy; request permission if redistribution online is not allowed.
You reuse parts of your own published paper.	Verify your author rights; include a citation and note in the thesis.
You include a photo you found online.	Confirm open license or obtain written permission.
You use archival material or data from another project.	Attribute the source and verify ownership with the archive or data custodian.

Checklist Before Submission

Review publication and license agreements.
Confirm permissions for all third-party content.
Include attributions and captions for all figures/tables.
Apply an embargo if needed.
Retain all permission records.

Contact copyright@uwo.ca for assistance before submission if any permissions are outstanding.