Copyright Information for UF Graduate Students
[The information contained in this website is by no means comprehensive and is intended to be an informational tool only.]
Copyrighting Your Thesis or Dissertation
You are not required to register your thesis or dissertation with the United States Copyright Office in order for your work to be protected by copyright law. While it is not necessary to register your thesis/dissertation with the Copyright Office, some authors register for peace of mind and as an extra assurance of their rights under current copyright legislation. As of January 2007, the fee for registration of Copyright was $45.00. Applications, registration forms and information can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office website. If you are writing a doctoral dissertation, ProQuest ( formerly known as UMI and Bell & Howell Information and Learning) will register your copyright for you for a $65.00 fee. This fee includes the copyright registration fee, plus completion of requisite forms and applications and creation of the deposit copy of your dissertation. Consult the Proquest agreement form, available from the Graduate Editorial Office in Grinter Hall, for more information concerning their copyright registration service.
Special Note to Students Writing Doctoral Dissertations:
All University of Florida doctoral dissertations, including those submitted in electronic format (ETDs), are microfilmed by Proquest Information and Learning. Please read the Proquest agreement form completely and carefully when submitting final paperwork to the Graduate Editorial Office. When completing these forms, it is imperative to give accurate, correct, and up-to-date information. In the event your dissertation is missing pages, or if you are due royalties from the sale of copies of your work, Proquest uses the information you supplied in these forms to contact you.
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
University of Florida students must now submit their thesis or dissertation in electronic format. Submitting an electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD) allows for almost endless possibilities for incorporating graphics and multi-media in your thesis or dissertation. For more information about the exciting opportunities of ETDs, please see the Graduate School's ETD page or Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Technical Support page sponsored by CIRCA.
Copyright Issues when Writing your Thesis/Dissertation
As stated above, a work need not be officially registered with the United States Copyright Office to be copyrighted. Please use caution when using material from other sources, published and unpublished, in your thesis or dissertation, as many items may have no notification of copyright, but are indeed protected by U.S. copyright law. When in doubt, obtain written permission from the holder of copyright. Fair use provides for reproduction of copyrighted materials under certain circumstances.
