Thesis Copyright
Plagiarism
The failure to give recognition to others' work so that it gives the impression that their work is your own is plagiarism. The University takes a serious view of plagiarism, and will require significant re-writing and re-submission of theses in which it is found. You must acknowledge all work that is not your own – whether ideas, experimental procedures, or data. This requirement extends to maps, tables, diagrams and photographs. Acknowledgement of others' work takes the form of "citations" and "references".
Third Party Copyright
Quoting substantial passages of other people's work and reproducing individual works such as photographs, maps and tables requires permission to be obtained from the copyright owners of these works. At the time of submitting your digital thesis you will be asked to agree to the following statement:
I declare that this thesis is my own original work and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it does not:
- Breach copyright or other intellectual property rights of a third party.
- Contain material previously published or written by a third party, except where this is appropriately cited through full and accurate referencing.
- Contain material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the qualification of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning.
- Contain substantial portions of third party copyright material, including but not limited to charts, diagrams, graphs, photographs or maps, or in instances where it does, I have obtained permission to use such material and allow it to be made accessible worldwide via the Internet.
For more information:
- Copyright Guidelines for Research Students
Note especially the requirements in Sections 8 and 9. - University of Waikato Copyright Information
- Copyright Officer Jennifer Campion - [email protected]
Your Copyright and access to your thesis
In New Zealand, under the Copyright Act 1994, copyright comes into existence automatically on the completion of any original literary work, including a thesis. No registration is necessary, nor is any other formality required for securing copyright protection.
However, in countries that are parties to the Universal Copyright Convention (e.g., United States of America) it is necessary, in order to claim copyright, to display on the back of the title page the letter c enclosed in a circle, the year of publication and the name of the author (e.g., © 2004 Agnes P. Smith).
See Copyright Guidelines for Research Students - section 3 "Copyright ownership".
A page with the following copyright statement will be automatically inserted in front of the digital copy of your thesis on the Research Commons:
The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand).
The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:
- Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.
- Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.
- You will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from the thesis.