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Graduate Thesis Style Guide: MFA in Creative Writing

Copyright Permissions

If you are using materials in your paper that were created by someone else, they may be under copyright; it is your responsibility to either obtain written permission to reuse the materials or document your case for Fair Use for each item.

Examples of copyrighted material may include any images that are not your own – tables, figures, graphs, photographs, maps – as well as extensive portions of text, such as the reproduction of journal articles.

Permission may need to be sought from the author, publisher, or repository (i.e., museum or archive) depending on who owns the copyright. It's recommended review and become familiar with the document, Keeping Your Thesis Legal (available through Dominican Scholar) and that you speak with the Scholarly Communications Librarian if you are unsure about the use copyright of materials in your manuscript.

Be sure to get permission in writing and to keep those letters of permission for your records.

Keeping Your Thesis Legal

Keeping Your Thesis Legal gives thesis authors important information about legally using the copyrighted work of others in their manuscript. It includes discussions on the use of images, illustrations, maps and charts, photographs and other materials.