Update on Access Copyright Proposed Post-Secondary Educational Tariffs: 2011 - 2013 and 2014 - 2017

On February 19, 2019, I published a blog about how the Board was seeking comments from the “Parties” on the proposed draft tariffs sought by Access Copyright for the post-secondary sector. The Board confirmed to me that the only “Parties” were Access Copyright and Mr. Sean Maguire, a self-represented student. The Board kindly provided me a copy of the draft tariffs, which I posted on that blog.  

Then, on March 6, 2019 in the morning and just after the beginning of the final three hours of the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) hearing in Access Copyright v. York University, the Copyright Board sent out the email shown below. Almost all of the addressees were the original list of objectors and interveners from 2010 in the Access Copyright post-secondary tariff. The Board’s only limit on who it will hear from now is that the comments must be from an “affected person” – which presumably would include any individual or institution concerned about copyright in the post-secondary realm in Canada, i.e. any post-secondary students, librarians, teachers, administrators, colleges, universities and the institutions that represent them. The email has been widely shared:

From: "Boisjoly-Letourneau, Karine (CB/CDA)" <Karine.Boisjoly-Letourneau@cb-cda.gc.ca>
Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 9:39 AM
To:  [XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX]
Cc: "McDougall, Gilles (CB/CDA)" <Gilles.McDougall@cb-cda.gc.ca>, "Campanella, Nadia (CB/CDA)" <Nadia.Campanella@cb-cda.gc.ca>
Subject: Access Copyright – Post-Secondary Educational Institutions (2011-2013 and 2014-2017) - Notice [CB-CDA 2019-013]

[CB-CDA 2019-013]

NOTICE OF THE BOARD

The Board wishes to consult affected persons on issues of tariff wording before proceeding to certification.

The Board seeks comments on the two attached draft tariffs, for the periods of 2011-2014 and 2015-2017. The text of these tariffs is based, respectively, on the 2012 AUCC Model Licence (Exhibit AC-2V), and the University Three-Year Premium Licence (Exhibit AC-23N), which are attached. Affected persons shall comment on the feasibility and clarity of the terms of the tariff. Comments may be informed by the attached comments of the Parties to this proceeding: Mr. Maguire and Access Copyright.

Portions of the draft tariffs in respect of rates and interest factors have not been included in the attached versions.

 Any affected person wishing to comment on the draft tariffs may do so by no later than Friday, March 15, 2019, by sending their comments to the Board. Any comment should be no longer than 3 pages in length.

The Board will subsequently provide Parties to this proceeding with all comments received pursuant to this Notice and provide an opportunity to reply thereto in a separate notice.

 Karine Boisjoly-Létourneau

Assistant Clerk│Greffière adjointe

Copyright Board of Canada│Commission du droit d’auteur du Canada

56 Sparks, Suite│Bureau 800
Ottawa ON K1A 0C9

Telephone│Téléphone 613.948.7257

Karine.boisjoly-letourneau@cb-cda.gc.ca

(highlight added)

For the convenience of readers who didn’t get the mail, here are links to the 2012 AUCC Model Licence (Exhibit AC-2V), and the University Three-Year Premium Licence (Exhibit AC-23N) and the comments of Access Copyright and Sean Maguire.

The above email of March 6, 2019 now appears as a Notice on the Board’s website, but without the attachments.

The Board has since advised by email dated March 11, 2019 that the deadline of March 15, 2019 has been extended to March 22, 2019. The Board has issued the following Notice, which has not yet been posted online as a Notice:

[CB-CDA 2019-014]

NOTICE OF THE BOARD

Earlier today Counsel for Universities Canada requested an extension to Wednesday, March 27, 2019, of the March 15, 2019, deadline for comments set out in Notice 2019-013. This request is partially granted.

Any affected person wishing to comment on the draft tariffs in the above-mentioned file may do so by no later than Friday, March 22, 2019, by sending their comments to the Board.

HPK

PS - the Board has now put the foregoing Notice [CB-CDA 2019-014] on its website.