4 ms·

One of my least favorite experiences in grad school was dealing with our school's tech transfer office. They fought hard to avoid using the GPL for licensing an

One of my least favorite experiences in grad school was dealing with our school's tech transfer office. They fought hard to avoid using the GPL for licensing anything. Just getting them to agree that a simple (to be published) tool should have an open source license was difficult. (And took many meetings) Fast forward to two different Bay area universities and it was a completely different experience. Open source licenses were agreed upon over a quick email.

hprotagonist 9y ago
I had a fun time with the library copyright office. 6 months before my thesis defense I emailed them with "hi what's policy and procedure for creative commons licenses on theses". Nobody had ever asked before... edit: my thesis is cc-by licensed.
- ensignavenger 9y ago
  Is it traditional for students to sign away copyright to their thesis to the University? That seems outrageous to me, but perhaps I am missing something?
  - hprotagonist 9y ago
    traditionally you register a personal copyright. it's implicit if you register nothing. some students may choose to request an embargo on their thesis, in those cases where their thesis work will be published elsewhere (in a peer reviewed journal, usually), or if their thesis would constitute disclosure of something for which a patent application is underway. my thesis was boring enough to avoid those cases.
    - ensignavenger 9y ago
      If you retained the copyright personally, why would you need permission from the university to publish your work under a creative commons license? Was it just a courtesy email to let them know your plans?
      - horsawlarway 9y ago
        I can't speak for OP, but in my experience it's very rare for a thesis to be just your work. It's based on data and research often paid for by the university, and includes the work of many different people. indirectly: advisors, lab partners, professors, other students. Directly: Co-authors of papers, research assistants, and other contributors. It's a messy bundle of work.
        ensignavenger 9y ago
        But copyright isn't based on ideas and doesn't cover raw data/facts- it covers the expression of those ideas and the compilation of the data.
      - hprotagonist 9y ago
        It was a courtesy, and also a formatting question. Because it's going to wind up in the library archives (and proquest) for ever and ever, the university is quite strict about formatting. I checked about 6 months ahead of time to make sure that replacing the (C) symbol with the (CC) symbol on the copyright page wasn't going to cause any issues. If a thesis is not properly submitted to proquest, you don't graduate, so... wanted to tick that box off pretty early.
  - SyneRyder 9y ago
    One of the reasons I never continued on to do an Honours degree is because the University would have retained the copyright in my work, and the rights to license it commercially. I thought it was outrageous as well. But that was over 15 years ago, so maybe the situation has changed since.
- maccard 9y ago
  Lucky you, I signed over a document assigning copyright to my university I believe. :sad face:

hprotagonist 9y ago

I had a fun time with the library copyright office. 6 months before my thesis defense I emailed them with "hi what's policy and procedure for creative commons licenses on theses". Nobody had ever asked before... edit: my thesis is cc-by licensed.

ensignavenger 9y ago
Is it traditional for students to sign away copyright to their thesis to the University? That seems outrageous to me, but perhaps I am missing something?
- hprotagonist 9y ago
  traditionally you register a personal copyright. it's implicit if you register nothing. some students may choose to request an embargo on their thesis, in those cases where their thesis work will be published elsewhere (in a peer reviewed journal, usually), or if their thesis would constitute disclosure of something for which a patent application is underway. my thesis was boring enough to avoid those cases.
  - ensignavenger 9y ago
    If you retained the copyright personally, why would you need permission from the university to publish your work under a creative commons license? Was it just a courtesy email to let them know your plans?
    - horsawlarway 9y ago
      I can't speak for OP, but in my experience it's very rare for a thesis to be just your work. It's based on data and research often paid for by the university, and includes the work of many different people. indirectly: advisors, lab partners, professors, other students. Directly: Co-authors of papers, research assistants, and other contributors. It's a messy bundle of work.
      - ensignavenger 9y ago
        But copyright isn't based on ideas and doesn't cover raw data/facts- it covers the expression of those ideas and the compilation of the data.
    - hprotagonist 9y ago
      It was a courtesy, and also a formatting question. Because it's going to wind up in the library archives (and proquest) for ever and ever, the university is quite strict about formatting. I checked about 6 months ahead of time to make sure that replacing the (C) symbol with the (CC) symbol on the copyright page wasn't going to cause any issues. If a thesis is not properly submitted to proquest, you don't graduate, so... wanted to tick that box off pretty early.
- SyneRyder 9y ago
  One of the reasons I never continued on to do an Honours degree is because the University would have retained the copyright in my work, and the rights to license it commercially. I thought it was outrageous as well. But that was over 15 years ago, so maybe the situation has changed since.
maccard 9y ago
Lucky you, I signed over a document assigning copyright to my university I believe. :sad face: