If you are using someone else's copyrighted work in your thesis, you may need to obtain permission to reuse that material, unless it is considered "fair use." Even if you are the author of your previously published work, you may have transferred the copyright to the publisher. The Thesis Office cannot advise you on what is considered fair use or what material requires permission from the copyright owner to include in your thesis. However, you may find the following resources useful as you make that determination. Please read the Graduate College's statement on the use of previously copyrighted material in a thesis and the responsibility of students to exercise sound authorship practices.
Reference Guides from the University of Illinois Library
- Copyright Reference Guide
- Copyright for Graduate Students: Theses and Dissertations
- Author's Rights and Copyright
- Video: 4 Copyright Tips for Graduate Students
- Video: Fair Use
Fair Use Tools
- Fair Use Checklist, offered by Columbia University's Copyright Advisory Office
- Fair Use Evaluator, offered by the American Library Association
- Fair Use overview, from Stanford University Libraries
Sample Permission Request Letter
- See page 4 of A Student's Guide to Copyrights and Fair Use from the Office of Technology Management (OTM)
Copyright Resources
- U.S. Copyright Office
- A Student's Guide to Copyrights and Fair Use, published by the Office of Technology Management
- Your Intellectual Property, University Library resources for graduate students
- Copyright and Your Dissertation or Thesis: Ownership, Fair Use, and Your Rights and Responsibilities, by Kenneth D. Crews
- "How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work," (PDF) U.S. Copyright Office Circular 22
- Using the SPARC Author Addendum
- SHERPA/RoMEO, an online database of journal and publisher copyright agreements
- "Who Owns Your Scholarship: Copyright, Publication Agreements, and Good Practice," a presentation from Kenneth D. Crews
- University Library Scholarly Commons Copyright information
Copyright FAQ
- The Thesis Office FAQ page contains additional information about the copyright of your thesis, including who owns the copyright to your thesis, options for registering your copyright, and more.