Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada reaches agreement with Access Copyright

OTTAWA, April 16, 2012 /CNW/ - The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and Access Copyright announced today that they have negotiated a model licence that will allow universities to reproduce copyright-protected materials in both print and digital formats.

"We believe that this negotiated agreement provides a successful outcome for universities, their students and faculty," said Paul Davidson, president of the AUCC. "It provides long-term certainty on price, and access to a new range of digital materials. Most importantly, the agreement respects the principles of academic freedom and privacy that are important to universities, and ensures that the administrative burden on institutions is minimized."

The model licence sees the AUCC and institutions working with publishers and creators to ensure fair compensation for the works they are using.

The agreement strikes a balance between the needs of creators, publishers and the university community. The expanded usage of content included in the agreement is in the interests of all stakeholders, said Access Copyright and AUCC.

"We are pleased to have negotiated this licence with the AUCC," said Maureen Cavan, executive director of Access Copyright. "The licence provides easy, legal access to copyright-protected works for students, professors and staff, in a simple, fast and cost-efficient manner."

The model licence will see institutions pay Access Copyright a royalty of $26.00 per full-time equivalent student annually. This royalty includes what used to be a separate 10 cents per page royalty for coursepack copying, so there will no longer be a separate royalty for such copying.

This agreement will be in place until December 31, 2015 and will renew automatically for one-year terms during which any party can cancel or request to renegotiate the agreement.

Over the course of the next six months, a survey methodology will be designed jointly to gather reliable bibliographic data and volume of usage trending data to allow Access Copyright to make fair distribution of royalties to its affiliates and to assist in establishing appropriate future licence rates. The survey will be designed to minimize the administrative burden on both parties, in particular academic staff and students, and will respect academic freedom, privacy and the obligations of universities under collective agreements with faculty and staff.

Contacts for Access Copyright:

Maureen Cavan
Executive Director
Access Copyright
[phone] ext. 226

Roanie Levy
General Counsel, Director Policy and External Affairs
Access Copyright
[phone] ext. 233

Contacts for AUCC:

Paul Davidson
President and CEO
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
[phone] ext. 232

Christine Tausig Ford
Vice-president and COO
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
[phone] ext. 341