Carleton will officially no longer operate under the rule of Access Copyright as of Sept. 1, according to the office of the provost and vice-president (academic).
The decision comes after Access Copyright received the green light from the Copyright Board of Canada to charge an interim tariff of $45 per post-secondary student, covering photocopying privileges and the like. This is an increase of over 1,200 per cent, based on the original fee of $3.38 per student, said Peter Ricketts, Carleton’s provost and vice-president.
Carleton isn’t the only university to leave Access Copyright, as other universities across Canada have made the move, including the University of British Columbia (UBC). The Vancouver Sun cited problems of academic freedom as the reason UBC opted out, as well as the significant fee increase, as Access Copyright also requested “authorization to monitor copying activities on university grounds.”
Carleton librarian Patricia Moore said the onus will mostly fall on faculty to make adjustments “as to how they use copyrighted material in delivering lectures” at Carleton.
“[Some changes] may seem strange to students . . . especially in the fall semester, but the library and [the Educational Development Centre] are here to help faculty make the transition. A significant amount of the material [used in lectures] is already available through the library.”
“Access Copyright is only one piece of the larger puzzle.”