It is extremely important that all copyright laws have been adhered to before posting anything to MSpace. 

     Posting to MSpace a previously-published research publication

• While many publishers accommodate institutional repositories by allowing authors to archive a preprint, a postprint or the publisher’s PDF of a research publication, there are some that do not.  MSpace will assume that the author has signed the journal's standard publication agreement and that the author will undertake the necessary publisher policy checking to determine copyright ownership and specific allowances.  The SHERPA/RoMEO database can be used to find out which journals and publishers allow authors to retain copyright and/or allow authors to archive research publications in an institutional repository such as MSpace.  MSpace respects the copyright agreement you have with publishers.  See Record publication rights during the process of posting to MSpace.
• If the publisher does not allow self-archiving as a general policy, you can still attempt to obtain copyright permission from the publisher to post the publication.  See Record publication rights during the process of posting to MSpace.

Record publication rights during the process of posting to MSpace

• The statement from the publisher which gives the author permission to self-archive or post an item to an institutional repository must be included in the “Copyright Usage” field during the MSpace posting process.  The relevant statement is usually available from the publisher’s Web site or from a permission letter obtained by the publisher.
• If the publisher’s standard agreement was changed by the author, or if copyright was retained by the author, this information must be inserted in the "Copyright Usage” field during the MSpace posting process. 

Posting to MSpace an item that has never been published

• If the item to be posted in MSpace has never been published but includes someone else’s copyrighted material, MSpace will assume that the author has obtained copyright clearance and has acknowledged the copyright owner for the material.  Stand-alone copyrighted material (such as photographs, maps, tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, images and poems) or a substantial amount of copyrighted material in the item must be cleared for copyright.  Copyrighted material which has entered the public domain (generally, 50 years after the creator's death) can be used freely and without permission.    
• To obtain copyright permission for the use of a copyrighted item,  send a request directly to the copyright owner (usually the publisher and not the author) via e-mail, fax or regular mail.  Keep copies of permission letters for your files.
• Before posting any item which includes copyright-cleared material, insert a permission statement within the text of the item or add a permission statement in the abstract during the process of posting to MSpace.

More information about copyright     

• Items can be submitted to both a publisher and to MSpace, depending on the publisher’s copyright agreement and electronic publishing policies. 
• When negotiating agreements with publishers, it is in the author's best interest to retain self-archiving privileges and copyright. 
• For more information about copyright, see "Copyright: Fair Dealing Guidelines" from the Office of Fair Practices and Legal Affairs.   

Notification or permission is not required if you are able to act as the authorizing agent for your co-authors/contributors.  If you cannot act on their behalf, please obtain permission from your co-workers/contributors before posting an item to MSpace and keep copies of permission letters for your files.  An MSpace assistant may be able to help you with obtaining permission from co-authors/contributors.

4.  How do I post an item to MSpace?

Currently MSpace uses the Dublin Core metadata standard.  Mapping is available to convert Dublin Core metadata to other standards for specific collections.

9. Can I enter metadata (description elements) for an item not located in MSpace?