It could be over a year until a decision is made on the proposed new tariff from Access Copyright, the collective that licenses copying and course packs for most universities across Canada.
Gilles McDougall, secretary general to the Copyright Board of Canada, explained that “it is a relatively long process” before a decision by the board can be made.
The board will hear the arguments of all parties with a stake in this particular tariff, including Access Copyright and those who oppose the proposed tariff, such as universities, libraries and student associations, McDougall said.
However, it could take quite a bit of time for each party to prepare their case.
“We cannot really predict, but it’s a relatively long process,” said McDougall.
“[The parties] need time to make the actual studies. There might be some surveys that will be needed in order to build their case and that takes time as well. [ . . . ] It could take easily a year, year and a half, and that’s before the hearing takes
place,” said McDougall.
After the hearing takes place, the board would also need a certain amount of time to render a decision.
An interim tariff was approved by the board in late December of last year, which keeps the fees in place “that were in place through the agreements that existed between the parties,” until a permanent tariff can be certified by the board or the board modifies the interim tariff, said McDougall.
The proposed new tariff is asking for post-secondary institutions to pay $45 per student, versus the $3.38 plus 10 cents per copied page they currently pay.
The University of Manitoba announced that it had decided not to renew its agreement with the collective last December. Instead, it has decided to operate outside the tariff and use its funds to modernize the university’s resources and services.
“The university has been and will continue to invest heavily in electronic resources and subscriptions, in place of print materials,” said John Danakas, U of M director of Public Affairs.
“We will examine new software and services which will assist with copyright clearance and compliance. In addition, the university will be examining strategies to encourage open source dealings.”
University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) president Heather Laube said that UMSU believes the university’s decision was justified, considering the massive increase in fees proposed by Access Copyright.
“[ . . . ] There was a significant financial threat to the university if they went forward with what Access Copyright was proposing. [ . . . ] The U of M’s decision to withdraw from the Access Copyright agreement in protest against these massive increases is a principled stance that the university should be commended for,” said Laube.
Laube said she believe the impact of the decision on students likely won’t be very noticeable.
“We will continue to keep an eye on how the university deals with the fallout from this and will push them to ensure they make the consequences of this decision as painless as possible for students,” said Laube.
The alternative to opting out of the agreement would have been worse, Laube said.
“I think many observers thought that an Access Copyright fee of that size would prompt the university to pursue an across-the-board additional fee or increase in tuition fees to cover it, something that we obviously would have opposed,” said Laube.
In an email, legal counsel and manger of legal service for Access Copyright, Erin Finlay, explained that universities should stay with the collective, despite rising fees, because Access Copyright “provide easy access to copyright-protected works.”
“Rather than having to clear authorization for every book, magazine, newspaper or journal that is copied by every student, professor or administrator at a university, Access Copyright makes the business of clearing works for reproduction simple and easy through collective licences,” said Finlay.
