Can I use my OWN published papers' images in my thesis without Copyright infringmentpokndeh Fgas .s YyaehtelJjnliueced ymac lno a
I have to fill in copyright form for my PHD thesis submission. I have used some of the images already published in my IEEE/IET journal and conference papers.
Do these figures fall under the copyright act?
Can I confidently say that
My thesis does not contain ANY material of which Copyright belongs to third parties.
parties**
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6Did you sign copyright over to them when publishing? – Solar Mike 9 hours ago
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2IEEE has a policy that allows authors to use own published material in their thesis. You need to fill up a form in the ask for copyrights section. Springer and IET also have the same policy. – user199 9 hours ago
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@SolarMike, Yes I did sign copyright form – Sjaffry 6 hours ago
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1@Sjaffry then they’re not your own any more… – mirabilos 1 hour ago
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1@SolarMike it’s an SO-Comment not an SO-Answer, but it’s still an English answer to an English question… gah! – mirabilos 18 mins ago
2 Answers
You will have to read the copyright transfer form that YOU have signed. Sometimes, there are several options on whether you keep the right to reuse your work. In my personal experience, you often have some limitations on how you can reuse your material. Sometimes, you will have to place a reference on where this paper has been published first.
However, this entirely depends on what you have signed.
For my thesis (7 years ago), I used many of my own figures from various journals. For each journal, I had to go to their website and fill in a web form (and/or send them an e-mail), asking for permission to use each specific figure. On the web form, there were various options regarding what you wanted to re-use the figure for, one of them was usually thesis/dissertation. The journal reviewed each request. All of mine were approved. They sent me a letter giving me permission to used that specific image in my thesis. I was required to add a note to the bottom of the caption saying something like "Reprinted with permission from [FULL CITATION]. Copyright [PUBLICATION YEAR], [JOURNAL]". This may be similar or completely different depending on where you've published. Check with your journals.
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1Indeed. One variation is that certain publishers don't even require permission. E.g. APS have the policy that "the author has the right to use the article or a portion of the article in a thesis or dissertation without requesting permission from APS, provided the bibliographic citation and the APS copyright credit line are given on the appropriate pages.". – Anyon 5 hours ago