Since dissertations are by definition substantial and original and largely are a product of an individual’s intellect, they are considered to be a kind of intellectual property alongside other forms such as patents. In this regard, they need to be protected through copyright.
However, it is not a requirement for dissertations to be registered with the US copyright office in order for them to be legally protected. They would still enjoy that protection nevertheless. Even so, some dissertation writers will insist on having their dissertations registered with the copyright office as an extra precaution.
In addition to offering other services such as an electronic database and writing services, our service also offers registration of dissertation copyright at a small fee. This fee will take care of the registration of the dissertation copyright, and filling in of the necessary forms and applications. In addition, our service will also create a deposit copy of your dissertation through microfilming, which it will reserve in our repository. In addition to protecting the dissertation from infringement, copyrighting of your dissertation will also help the dissertation writer earn royalties from his work.
Since it is not a requirement for dissertations to be registered with the copyright office in order for them to enjoy copyright protection, many dissertations in practice do not come with any notification that they are under copyright protection therefore many people assume that it is perfectly valid to reproduce material from them. In such circumstances, dissertation writers are at risk of violating the copyright of the dissertation. Unless such use is done under fair use provisions, such reproduction would be deemed as plagiarism and the dissertation writer would have to pay hefty penalties for that.
