The paper reports on the results of an examination of electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) copyright policies adopted by tertiary level educational institutes in India. The objectives are to study the institutional copyright policies available in the websites, or elsewhere and understand the intricacies of copy right laws in regard to full text access of digital theses. The author looks at the institutional policy framework by using three questions: • Who is/are the owner(s) of copyright of ETDs? • What are the embargo policies and legal considerations for full text access? • How IPR Laws impact upon availability/access?