Q. When should I seek permission to use third party copyright content in my thesis?

You should use open access material covered by a Creative Commons licence, where possible.

Whether choosing immediate open access or seeking an embargo, Part F, Section 39 of the Intellectual Property Policy requires you to undertake reasonable investigation for potential Third Party Intellectual Property rights (including Copyright, patents and other rights) required for your research prior to any use of the Intellectual Property e.g. inclusion in your thesis.

If you use material which is not open access, the best advice is to seek permission from the Copyright Holder as early as possible to avoid delays in submitting your thesis.

We recommend keeping a register of third party copyright material used in your thesis. You can use this Template for Listing Third Party Copyright Material.

Ensure that:

• The inclusion of publications in the thesis complies with your publisher copyright agreement. Usually this means the post‐print (Author Accepted Manuscript) should be used rather than the publisher PDF as it appears in the final published version at the publisher site.
• Informed consent has been obtained for the use of research participants’ photographs (e.g. patients), and particularly for the use of images of Indigenous Australians.
• The identity of participants in the research is adequately protected.

For information on copyright, what constitutes as third party copyright, including copyright in creative works, and dealing with the copyright of others, visit University Copyright.