UBC has decided to opt out of its licensing agreement with Access Copyright, citing concerns over affordability and a desire to move towards more sustainable electronic access to materials. This makes UBC the largest university to opt out of the agreement. While some impacts on students are uncertain, UBC has committed to maintaining existing resources to support academic needs and does not expect significant changes to how course materials are currently handled. The AMS will monitor the situation and engage stakeholders to develop policy regarding copyright issues.

1. Access Copyright
AMS Council May 23rd 2012

2. You can probably count the number of
universities that are going to opt out of
Access Copyright on one hand. UBC is
going to be the largest finger on that
hand.
– Paraphrased from UBC Provost
David Farrar at Senate May 16th 2012

3. Copyright and “Fair Dealing”
• in Canadian law, if you create something
in a fixed, tangible medium, you own the
copyright to it (unless you sign it away)
• “fair dealing” refers to the Canadian
statutory exception to copyright
infringement

4. from §29 of the Copyright Code of
Canada
Research or private study
s. 29 Fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study does not infringe
copyright.
Criticism or Review
s. 29 Fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review does not infringe
copyright if the following are mentioned:
(a) the source; and
(b) If given the source, the name of the
(i) author, in the case of a work,
(ii) Performer, in the case of a performer’s performance,
(iii) Maker, in the case of a sound recording, or
(iv) Broadcaster, in the case of a communication signal.
News reporting
s. 29 Fair dealing for the purpose of news reporting does not infringe copyright
if the following are mentioned:
(a) the source; and
(b) If given the source, the name of the
(i) author, in the case of a work,
(ii) Performer, in the case of a performer’s performance,
(iii) Maker, in the case of a sound recording, or
(iv) Broadcaster, in the case of a communication signal.

5. Higher Education and “Fair
Dealing”
• “fair dealing” does not apply to the
distribution of materials in the classroom –
consequently, instructors must gain
permission from copyright owners to use
their materials
• materials can range from journal articles to
diagrams, from music recordings to videos

6. Access Copyright
• a not-for-profit copyright collective whose
mandate is to license copyrighted works
and collect royalties through collective
rights management
• in 2011, Access Copyright received
$28,833,000 in licensing fees

7. Association of Universities and
Colleges of Canada
• a consortium of 95 Canadian public and
private not-for-profit universities and
university degree-level colleges
• Stephen Toope is currently serving as the
Chair of the AUCC’s board of directors

8. Changes to AC Tariff c. 2011
• in late 2010, various post-secondary
organizations had license agreements with
Access Copyright that expired
• Access Copyright proposed a new tariff to
take effect on January 1, 2011, with several
changes:
– a new $45 charge per FTE replacing a per-page
fee
– stipulations regarding electronic uses of
copyrighted materials
• various members of the AUCC consequently
opted out of the Access Copyright agreement

9. UBC’s Position c. 2011
• prior to the proposed AC tariff for 2011
onwards, UBC routinely paid Access
Copyright about $650,000, of which:
– $150,000 was subsidized from the general
operating funds and;
– $500,000 were recouped through coursepack
prices
• the proposed tariff was suggested to
increase costs to $2,000,000

10. Opt-Out c. 2011-2012
• as a result of the opt-out, UBC engaged in
several actions:
– accepted the terms of an interim tariff until
August 31, 2011;
– reviewed of electronic materials for which the
UBC Library had purchased subscriptions;
– launched copyright.ubc.ca as a resource;
– with the AUCC, filed objections to the
Copyright Board re: AC’s new tariff

11. Opt-Out c. 2012
• in April, 2012, the AUCC agreed upon a
model license with Access Copyright to
last until December 31, 2015
• in this new licensing model, AC would be
paid $26 per FTE
• in May, 2012, UBC announced that it
would not sign a license agreement with
AC

12. Other Universities
• other universities have signed non-binding
“letters of intent” granting them a period
from May 15 to June 30 to conduct due
diligence prior to signing formal
agreements
University Response
Toronto Voluntary agreement
Western Voluntary agreement
Winnipeg Opt-out
Manitoba Voluntary agreement
Calgary Voluntary agreement
Queen’s Voluntary Agreement

13. UBC’s Decision
• UBC’s Press Release stated that there
were 3 main reasons for this decision
which touched on the principles of:
– Moving towards more sustainable, electronic
means of access
– Ensuring that access is cost-effective

14. UBC’s Decision
1) UBC has existing license agreements
with over 950 publishers for online
access
2) UBC is concerned about affordability of
higher education and believes the
decision to opt out of the 2011 agreement
enabled cost effective access
3) Model license only permits copying of
10% of a narrow range of works that is
almost exclusively print based

15. Resources Available
• UBC feels that is has been able to develop
mechanisms to effectively meet the needs of
students, faculty and staff without resorting to
the interim tariff thus far
• in order to ensure that UBC continues to
support the needs of the academic
community, they have committed to the
following resources
– Website dedicated to copyright issues
– UBC Copyright Advisory Group
– Course pack production with clearances through
Bookstore
– New UBC Copyright Office

16. Business as Usual
• it is hard to definitively predict the impacts
this decision will have on students
• this decision is not significantly changing
the way matters of access are currently
being handled
• however the AMS recognizes that there
are some issues with the current system
that impact students ability to obtain
course and lecture materials in a
coordinated manner

17. Sturm und drang for Copyright
• the field of copyright is one that is quite
active at the moment and it is impossible
to predict how things will turn out:
– Bill C-11 proposes changes to the Copyright
Act that may benefit the education sector
– Alberta (Education) v. Access Copyright is a
supreme court case that argues about the
educational use exception to fair dealing

18. AMS Next Steps
• Education Committee is engaging in conversations
with key stakeholders to investigate how this
decision may impact students including
– GSS
– Student Senate Caucus
– UBC Copyright
– Provosts Office
• develop policy surrounding this decision and future
considerations for the university to best support
undergraduate and graduate students in their
academic needs
• engage with the university to communicate
concerns of students and inform them of our policy