1. All ESU theses must be submitted to and approved by the Graduate College.
2. After your thesis is officially approved, the Graduate College will provide you with the Rights and Permission Form for Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Submission. Complete and submit the form to the Graduate College.
3. The Graduate College will provide Kemp Library with (1) the official approved PDF of your thesis and (2) your completed Rights and Permission Form.
4. Kemp Library will create a record for your thesis in the ESU Institutional Repository (IR).
U.S. copyright law automatically protects an "original" work in a "fixed" medium. This means students already own copyright of their thesis. See the Copyright Basics circular from the U.S. Copyright Office for more information.
After completing the Kemp Library's Rights and Permissions Form, students are still the copyright owner of their thesis.
ESU does not file copyright on your behalf with the U.S. Copyright Office.
While original works are already protected by copyright law, officially registering the copyright is necessary if an author pursues infringement litigation. Students may choose to register the copyright themselves online for $45 (fees in effect as of March 20, 2020) at www.copyright.gov.
Researchers must seek permission before reproducing or otherwise using copyrighted works beyond fair use.
If you have questions about submitting your ESU thesis, then email Theses@esu.edu.
If you have questions about the Rights and Permission Form and Kemp Library's ESU Institutional Repository, contact the Scholarly Communications & Research Librarian Michelle Donlin, mdonlin@esu.edu.