Clarkson Student Copyright Licenses

For Current Clarkson Students

Student Copyright License (PDF)

Why am I being asked to fill out a Copyright License? 

Clarkson University would eventually like to digitize Clarkson students’ master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations and add them to a digital repository.

This form will allow us to include a digital copy of your work in a Digital Repository should one be created. 

Disclaimer

Clarkson University library staff cannot offer legal advice. If you need legal advice regarding this Copyright License form please contact an attorney. 

For More FAQs

Guide to The Form

NOTE: Selections made on this form will not impact a student’s ability to finish their thesis and
graduate on time. It may only determine the public availability of their work.

Completing/not completing this form only impacts the university’s ability to use your dissertation. 

This section is asking for your name and the name of your work (in the case of a dissertation, this is the title of your thesis). In section a) you are then asked to identify the copyright status of your work. Please check the option that accurately reflects the current copyright status of your work. 

• 1) is appropriate for when you are the only author and have not signed away your copyright to anyone else, such as a publisher. 
• 2) is appropriate for when you are one of several authors on the work, but you and your joint authors have not signed away your copyright. You are then asked to identify the other authors, who will then need to sign their own copyright license for the university to use your work.
• 3) is appropriate if you have signed away copyright to all or part of the work, such as to a publisher, and therefore cannot give the university permission to use your work. 
• 4) is appropriate for when you are not sure of the copyright status of your work, such as if you do not know what copyright you granted to a publisher. You can always submit a new copy of this form later if you have clarified the copyright status. 

Please check the option that accurately reflects the current copyright status of your work. 

Here you are being asked to indicate that you actually have the ability to grant copyright permission. You are being asked to initial to indicate that each item on the list is accurate. 

• a) If necessary, you have obtained permission from anyone whose copyrighted material you used in your thesis, such as images or graphics, and have cited appropriately. If this is accurate, please initial. 
• b) Your work does not infringe on anyone’s copyright. If this is accurate, please initial. 
• c) You are at least 18 years of age. If this is accurate, please initial. 
• d) You do not have an employment relationship with Clarkson University that effects your ability to give copyright permission regarding your work. If this is accurate, please initial.

You are being asked to initial to indicate that each item on the list is accurate. 

As indicated in the Note, if you do not own the copyright to your work or are unsure of the copyright status of your work you can skip this section. 

If you are able and willing to grant rights to the University to use your work, check all of the permissions you would like to grant to Clarkson University to use your work. 

• a) allows the University to create print copies of your work and distribute them for library purposes.
• b) allows the university the right to digitize your work and/or convert it to other formats that may exist in the future. 
• c) allows the University to grant access to your work to Clarkson Community members including students, employees, trustees, and other library card holders. 
• d) allows the University to grant unlimited access to your work; in other words, access would not be limited to only the Clarkson Community. 
• e) grants the widest possible permissions to the University through a “transferable, irrevocable license,” including publication, distribution and display. 

Any of these options will allow the abstract, bibliography and metadata to be published in the library catalog and library databases. 

If you are able and willing to grant rights to the University to use your work, check all of the permissions you would like to grant to Clarkson University to use your work. 

An “Embargo” is a delay prior to placing your materials in the Clarkson University institutional
repository.

If you wish to place an embargo on your materials, please check yes and indicate a date for the embargo to end. 

If you do not wish to place an embargo on your materials, allowing them to be used immediately, please check no. 

This optional section gives the University permission to use your name and image to promote your thesis.

If you wish to allow the university to use your name and image, please fill out this section of the form. 

If you do not wish to allow the university to use your name and image, skip this portion of the form.