When writing a PhD thesis there are several copyright regulations that you need to be aware of. Only the person or persons who hold the copyright to a work are allowed to share it with others.
In general, you (and any co-authors) hold the copyright to the articles and books that you have written, but you may have transferred parts of the copyright to a publisher for the purpose of publication.

Many PhD theses contain three different elements, each with its own copyright considerations:

• the main text of the thesis (the summary or separate presentation)
• published articles
• unpublished manuscripts and results

As a PhD student you hold the copyright to the text.

• If you reuse your own illustrations/figures please make sure you have permission to do so.
• If you use someone else's illustrations/figures please obtain a permission.

In many cases parts of the copyright have been transferred to a publisher, who has the exclusive right to publish and distribute the article.

• You need permission from the publisher (and any co-authors) to include the articles in your PhD thesis.
• You may have retained certain rights, such as the right to include the article in your PhD thesis and reuse the illustrations in your thesis. This is often specified in your publishing agreement.
• Some (but not all) publishers also allow you to share the thesis, including published articles, in an institutional repository, e.g. Pure.
• If in doubt you should request permission to republish from the publisher.

You (and any co-authors) hold the copyright.

• You should obtain permission from any co-authors to include the manuscripts in your PhD thesis.
• If you plan to publish the manuscript and results at a later date, be cautious about sharing them online, also as part of your PhD thesis. Some publishers may consider this as prior publication, which could exclude publication by a publisher.
• We generally recommend that you do not share your PhD thesis online until the material is published, or that you make a revised version without the unpublished material.
  However, there are significant disciplinary differences, and in some fields, it is customary to share unpublished manuscripts, e.g. in mathematics.