Canadian Association of University Teachers

 
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Copyright ruling impacts education sector

(Ottawa, July 28, 2010) On July 23, 2010 the Federal Court of Appeal released its decision in a case concerning the tariff Access Copyright can levy against Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools to reproduce educational material.  The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) intervened in the case with a view to assisting the Court reach a more positive understanding of fair dealing (the right to copy material without permission or payment in certain circumstances), and, failing that, to ensure that any negative fallout of the decision would be confined to the matter’s particular factual circumstances.

“The Court’s decision can be seen as largely limited to the reproduction of curriculum-specific textbooks in the K-12 setting, and to this extent we are pleased that CAUT’s input was reflected in the ruling” says University of Western Ontario Professor Sam Trosow, chair of CAUT’s Copyright Committee.  “But other aspects of the decision are more worrisome.”  In particular CAUT questions the lack of adequate analysis of the relationship between fair dealing and educational instruction.

“Our hope is that the school boards will seek review of this decision to the Supreme Court” says Trosow “While limited to the facts on the record in this case, the ruling fails to provide the clarity and precision that the educational community was seeking.”  For CAUT the decision also underlines the urgent need for educational institutions to implement written policies that clarify and positively promote fair dealing along the lines endorsed by the Supreme Court of Canada in the CCH v. Law Society case.  The absence of such codification is a vulnerability to advancing the rights of the users of copyright material.

“The decision is a disappointment for the educational community” says Trosow “but we have to put it in its overall context - the rights of students and teachers to access and use works have been steadily advancing over the last decade.”  Trosow notes that Canadian court decisions have been overwhelmingly in favour of user rights and that the proposed copyright legislation before Parliament expands fair dealing. Even in the United States the copyright office has just affirmed new exceptions to digital locks provisions that recognize fair-use rights.

CAUT is the national voice of more than 65,000 academic and general staff at 120 universities and colleges across Canada.