If you are using materials or reproductions in your thesis that are copyright protected, a statement from the copyright owner granting you permission to use the material must be submitted with the thesis. Examples of copyrighted material may include any images that are not your own - tables, figures, graphs, photographs, maps - as well as extensive portions of text, such as the reproduction of journal articles. Graduate Studies and Research will accept permission letters that were received by a student via email; however, the Sample Permission Letter For Use of Previously Copyrighted Material (pdf) provided by the publisher of your thesis, ProQuest, is recommended. Permission may need to be sought from the author, publisher, or repository (i.e., museum or archive) depending on who owns the copyright. This letter must also state that the copyright owner is aware that ProQuest may supply single copies upon request and may proceed under the contract on the agreement form.
In addition to supplying evidence of having received permission to reproduce copyrighted material at the time you submit your thesis for review by Graduate Studies and Research, you must also attach copies of the permission letters to the ProQuest/UMI Publishing Agreement when submitting the final copy of your thesis for binding (once your thesis has been approved). If your thesis utilizes a number of copyrighted materials, or if your thesis contains a mixture of your own images and copyrighted images, it is recommended that you create a list, separate from your thesis, that outlines the source of each image and whether or not permission is needed/included. While such a list is not required, it will help Graduate Studies and Research expedite the review of your thesis.
All copyrighted material must include the correct citation within your thesis (i.e., Reprinted with permission from…, Adapted from…, Modified from…).
In some unusual circumstances, students may not have sole ownership of their thesis. Such circumstances may include co-authorship of part of the thesis, support from a foundation or grant that may specify terms of ownership for resulting work, and previous publication of parts of your thesis in a journal or book. If you have published in a journal, you may have assigned the copyright to those portions of your thesis to the publisher. Please review your agreement and secure permission if necessary.
The Office of Graduate Studies and Research requires that all students complete the ProQuest/UMI Publishing Agreement when filing the final version of their thesis. ProQuest, the publishing company contracted by San Jose State University, archives a microfilm copy of your thesis and creates a bibliographic record of it on the UMI dissertation database, which is available to researchers worldwide. The ProQuest/UMI Publishing Agreement grants ProQuest the non-exclusive right to reproduce and disseminate your work according to the publishing options you select. It is important to note that ProQuest acts as a publisher and does not own the copyright to your thesis. As the author of your thesis, you retain control of the work’s intellectual content.
For more information about copyright law and publishing visit:
Copyright Law and Graduate Research
http://www.umi.com/products_umi/dissertations/copyright/
US Copyright Office
ProQuest Information and Learning / UMI
http://il.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/authors.shtml
1-800-521-0600
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Additional Thesis Related Resources and External Links:
Graduate Admissions and Program Evaluations
ProQuest Information and Learning / UMI
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