A lawsuit launched by Access Copyright against York could get more complicated, as the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada is getting involved.
Harriet Lewis, university secretary and general counsel, says while the university can’t comment or take a position on CMEC’s application to participate in a lawsuit, their action shows what is at stake in the lawsuit.
“The Council of Ministers of Education’s wish to be involved on behalf of K-12 educational systems across Canada just emphasizes the importance of the matters at stake,” says Lewis, “which are the extent of the support for the interpretation of ‘fair dealing’ taken by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, by York, and by many of its other members.”
After its contract expired September 1, 2011, York decided not to re-sign with Access Copyright following changes to the contract, and has since handled use of copyrighted materials on its own through the newly created Copyright Support Group.
On April 8, 2013, Access Copyright announced it would be launching a lawsuit against York for breaking fair dealing guidelines, which outline how copyright-protected work can be used without the permission of the copyright owner.
In 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the use “short excerpts” by teachers from copyrighted material doesn’t infringe on copyright because it is allowed by the fair dealing provision in the Copyright Act.
According to a statement released by CMEC on January 31, following this ruling, all levels of the education system agreed on a definition of “short excerpts.”
In its lawsuit, Access Copyright is challenging this particular interpretation of fair dealing.
The statement says CMEC Copyright Consortium wants to ensure the federal court has the benefit of hearing from all relevant stakeholders when it makes its decision, as this lawsuit has implications beyond York.
CMEC offers a unique voice in this battle, as the results will affect how primary and secondary schools use copyrighted material.
Erin Finlay, director of legal and government relations and general counsel at Access Copyright, says Access Copyright’s response to CMEC’s application is it’s not appropriate. Access Copyright doesn’t feel CMEC needs to intervene in a case that involves only York and themselves.
“Fair dealings, which is the central issue in the York litigation, are decided [through] a case-by-case analysis, and the facts are critically important to the decisions on whether the copying they’re doing is covered under their fair dealing guidelines,” says Finlay.
“When a case goes to the court, the court will look at all of the facts that surround that institution’s fair dealing practices, and a decision will be made on whether that institution has been acting fairly or not,” says Finlay.
“CMEC attempting to broaden the case beyond what the case is is inappropriate.”
Hamid Adem
News Editor
