Is it allowed to use figures from published articles in a PhD dissertation or an article, given that the figure is clearly cited as the work of the original author? Or should a request to use the figure be made to the author and publisher as well?
There is no universal answer: it all depends on the copyright agreement the author signed with a publisher. For the reuse of figures in either another article or in the thesis you may (again, this depends on the copyright agreement the author has signed for the paper the figures from which you intend to use) need to request a permission from the publisher (for copyright reasons) *and* also from the author (for copyright and *ethical* reasons).
Cf. e.g. http://www2.bibl.liu.se/fraga/questions_en.aspx?category=Copyright+%26+Plagiarism
http://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/permission-seeking-guidelines-for-elsevier-authors#obtain-permission-another-publisher
Bashar, the copyright applies pretty much to the copying/publishing process. At least in the United States there are some specific exceptions for certain situations that will probably cover the very small limited number of copies needed to turn in a dissertation and put final copies in a university library, etc. But, in the United States most authors choose to publish their dissertations through a clearinghouse and that will require a permission from the copyright holder for a figure or anything else that has a copyright, even a short extract of a poem or song (these are much more restricted from text from articles and books).
I am going to have to disagree with C. Lewis on art. No copyright exists, at least in the United States, without the word "Copyright" the copyright symbol, the c in the circle, or in some cases it can be a c in parentheses (c) and a year with the name of the copyright holder. If something like a figure holds a separate copyright from the surrounding article or the journal, it must have a separate copyright notice containing all these elements, and you will see this, particularly, for example, for maps in travel books, or often for photographs. There is no implied copyright that belongs to an artist that exists without all the elements I mentioned. Now, if a publisher reproduces a photo, a map, a figure, or a work of art without imprinting the copyright of the artist, but the book or whatever has a copyright for the publisher and the artist never assigned the copyright to the publisher in a legal document then artist should be able to prevent the publisher from transferring the copyright to another party, but the same thing would be true if a publisher printed an article I wrote without a copyright transfer from me. It's nothing special about art. The copyright belongs to the creator until a legal document transfers the copyright to someone else. So if you see a figure in an article and the copyright notice, usually it is at the beginning of each article, you need to seek permission from the copyright holder of the article. If the figure has a separate copyright notice, you need (only) to seek permission from that person or entity. Your university should have clear guidelines about copyright material in dissertations (even if you don't need permission you do need to reproduce the copyright information). However, you will not be able to do any archiving or further reproduction without permission of the legal copyright holder (as determined by the copyright notice) or deleting the copyright material. Bob
I requested for permission for the figures I used (3). Not only did every author grant their permission, some also provided higher resolution figures. I don't know how many figures you are going to use as your field is more visual than mine.
I suggest you generally ask for copyright and for higher quality figures from the authors. Usually, they will be flattered and provide their consent.
You must get permission from the copyright holder, which will either be the journal or the author. Then, you must reference the original source and state that the figure is being used by permission.
Also - please note that artwork can be copyrighted. If there is a copyright on any material, you must get permission before reproducing it. Many journal charge a fee for reproducing figures and most artists charge a fee for the reproduction of their work. If you don't have written permission, you open yourself up to potential legal problems.
I agree with Kathleen, it is first of all it a courtesy to the owner to ask permission. Most researchers, at least in the social sciences, are honoured that someone wants to use their material and only ask that you reference it properly. If they say no, then it is only to respect their answer and find another source. Artist and others with patents etc probaly see this in a completely different light.
Intellectual property laws vary from one country to another, so you should check the regulations that apply in your country. Said that, at least in the background I know, it is not the same to include a figure in a PhD dissertation as to in an article. Provided that in both cases a reference is made to the source, of course. But in the case of a PhD dissertation, this is not taken as material that you or someone else is going to sell, as it is the case of an article published in a journal with a selling price. For the dissertation, you only should need to reference the source, whereas for the article you should need explicit permission.
I hope this helps.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Education
- Higher Education
- Academic Writing