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Ontario Public School Boards Dropping Access Copyright License

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According to Michael Geist today on his blog, the Ontario Public School Board Association is advising school boards in Ontario to prepare to stop using Access Copyright for copyright licensing next year. They are following a legal opinion obtained by the Counsel of Ministers of Education, Copyright, that advises any material copied in Canadian K-12 schools either already has the correct permissions or would fall under fair dealing.

This follows from five Supreme Court of Canada decisions on copyright that came down this summer which gave guidance on determining fair dealing (see Martin Kratz’ coverage in his Ensuring the Balance blog post here on Slaw.ca).

Recent press releases from Access Copyright warn against misinterpreting the fair dealing guidance from the Supreme Court. The folks at Access are also concerned that, with the reduction in monies coming to them, creators such as authors who receive royalties under their affiliate program will suffer.

This also follows on the heels of recent talks between Access Copyright and the Association of Community Colleges of Canada (ACCC) on the subject of surveying which recently reached an impasse. In its September 28, 2012 newsletter, the ACCC stated:

Attempts to develop jointly a survey instrument between ACCC and Access Copyright have resulted in an impasse. On September 7, the Copyright Board of Canada ruled that ACCC may conduct its own survey.

Last week Access Copyright put out press releases warning the ACCC about their interpretation of fair dealing following the SCC decisions:

How will this affect others licensed with Access Copyright? Will this give them grounds for moving away from Access licensing?

See related Access Copyright press releases:

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