On 01/19/2012 03:12 PM, Sally R. Evans wrote:
> 
> One faculty member contacted a member of the Provost's office and said, in
> an email,
> 
> *University Copyright policy is VERY clear that copyright in their own
> writings is the property of the students, NOT the university.

Yeah, basically what everyone else said.  This is typical FUD.  Copyright
addresses how others can use your work *without your permission*.  Schools
can definitely say, "In order to get your degree, you have to give us
permission to put your thesis online."

As at many other places, Step Zero at OhioLINK was getting a
lawyer-written publication agreement ("By submitting you agree to the
following...") that begins:

    I hereby grant to the Ohio Library and Information Network
    (OhioLINK) and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive,
    reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or
    in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from
    an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently
    stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school.



Thomas Dowling
[log in to unmask]