Copyright for Dissertations?

Dear Copyright experts:

     I am an international student writing a doctoral dissertation in a Northamerican university. I would like information on how to protect my investigation while I write it as I am required to turn pages in periodically to my advising committee. How can I protect the ideas contained in these individual pages before the complete dissertation is presented for defense? I would like to know if the 'pages-in-process' that ultimately make up a doctoral dissertation qualify as intellectual property in the same way as the defended thesis or a published book, for example. Any information on the copyright process for dissertations --both before and after the defense -- would be greatly appreciated.

	Thank you in advance,
		MHierro

Manuel Hierro
<mhierro[_at_]artsci.wustl.edu> Received on Tue Apr 01 1997 - 21:35:54 GMT