What is copyright?
In accordance with the Copyright Act a master's thesis is a literary or artistic work whose copyright is owned by its author. This means that the copyright owner has the exclusive right to control a work by reproducing it and by making it available to the public (1 §, 2 §).
When copies of a work are made or when the work is made available to the public in whole or in part, the name of the author shall be stated in a manner required by proper usage. A work may not be altered in a manner which is prejudicial to the author's literary or artistic reputation, or to his individuality; nor may it be made available to the public in such a form or context as to prejudice the author in the manner stated (3 §).
Who has got copyright?
When an author submits a thesis electronically its copyright is not transferred to the university; the author remains the copyright holder.
Publishing your thesis via a publishing company
If your thesis is also published via a publishing companty, please be in contact with Åbo Akademi University Library for further information.
A Master’s thesis becomes public when it has been assessed and approved. As of 1 August 2018, Master's theses will be submitted electronically to the Åbo Akademi University Library’s publications repository, where they will be available to the public. If the Master's thesis contains confidential information, only the part of the Master's thesis that does not contain confidential information will be published. The student can also choose to make their Master's thesis available only at the Åbo Akademi University Library.
Open Access means that research results are made openly available on the Internet. Open Access means that the copyright holder allows everyone to read, download, make copies of, and share the text digitally, while fully respecting the legal rights of the author. In other words, using OA-material, the author must be mentioned and the content must not be altered. When the students fill in the form for digital publishing, they also choose how their theses are made available.
Further information on what the student should do in order to publish his or her theses can be found under the Student tab.