Theses and the InfoSoc Directive: dancing the Slovak Three-Step
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| A man of great principle and the author of one of the world's most influential theses, Martin Luther was not an internet user and always preferred doors to Windows |
"At the end of last year the Slovak parliament passed (and the President signed) so called anti-plagiarism amendment of the Act on Schools of Higher Education. This basically legislates that each student at any Slovak university must consent to have his thesis published online. Failure to grant this licence results in a student's not being able to defend that thesis and subsequently complete his university education. These provisions apply not only to bachelor and master students, but also doctoral students and habilitation works [Merpel's not too sure what these are, but they do sound grand ...].
According to the Act each student must conclude an non-exclusive and territorially unrestricted licence agreement, agreeing to have his work released and communicated to the public via the Slovak Republic (represented by the Ministry of Education) before his thesis defence. This licence agreement must be concluded without any remuneration. By default every thesis will be published with electronic information identifying rights and technological protection measures which prevent the printing and downloading of the work, but any student can consent to publish his work without these restrictions. Works will be published online on a so-called Central Register of Qualification Works (CRZP). If the thesis includes trade secrets, classified information or personal data, that part shall be embodied in a special attachment which is not subject to publication.
In order to protect possible patentable technical solutions or some other interests, the Act provides that a student can postpone online publication within CRZP for 12 months. This period could be exceptionally extended to another 24 months (amounting to 36 months in total) under special conditions following a special procedure.
The only works that are excluded from the online publication are those that have been already published in a periodical or non-periodical publication. There is no time limit after which thesis shall be taken down. However, every student who has published his work as a periodical or non-periodical publication after his graduation can subsequently ask for its removal. The details of this publication have to be proved to CRZP. The law will come into effect on 1 September 2011.All comments and suggestions are welcomed, as well as any clues as to whether other jurisdictions have taken -- or are thinking of taking similar measures. Merpel says, I don't mind the compulsory publication of theses -- I'm just terrified at the thought that it might become compulsory to read them.
My primary concern is whether this law is a measure having the equivalent effect to a statutory licence? If so, is this amendment compatible with the information society directive, especially its exhaustive list of exceptions and limitations -- and the three step test?
A little bit more information (with links) is provided here".
Dance the three-step in Sardinia here
Three steps to breakdance here (not for the faint-hearted ...)
Pathetic website offering words that rhyme with "theses" here
