Access...an e-newsletter for Member Organizations: December 2012

Access...an e-newsletter for Member Organizations

December 2012

In this issue...

Access Copyright Begins New Chapter

K-12 Schools to Stop Paying for Access Copyright Licence

The ACCC Copyright Policy Does Not Meet the Supreme Court's Fairness Factors

Access Copyright December Distributions

September Board of Directors Retreat Promises New Direction for Access Copyright

A Chat with Outgoing Executive Director Maureen Cavan

Follow @AccessCopyright and Join the Conversation

Access Copyright Foundation Currently Accepting Applications for Research Grants

Access Copyright Begins New Chapter

Roanie Levy (Credit: Meaghan Weinberg, In-Vision Studios)

Access Copyright is pleased to announce the appointment of Roanie Levy as its new Executive Director.

Ms. Levy takes the helm having held senior positions with Access Copyright for eleven (11) years. A member of the Executive Team, most recently Ms. Levy's role was General Counsel and Director of Policy and External Affairs. She has degrees from the London School of Economics, Dalhousie University, and Université de Montréal.

"Ms. Levy brings leadership, experience and a wealth of knowledge in working with creators and publishers, as well as the many educators, learners and other content users that Access Copyright serves. Her experience uniquely positions her to guide Access Copyright in developing innovative products and services which respond to both the new legislative environment and new user requirements," said Nancy Gerrish, Board Co-Chair.

K-12 Schools to Stop Paying for Access Copyright Licence

Access Copyright has been advised by legal counsel to the Council of Ministers of Education (CMEC) that K-12 schools across the country will stop paying the royalties owing to Access Copyright under the tariff defined by the Copyright Board as of January 1, 2013. While not directly stated in the letter, we understand their rationale for this action is a faulty interpretation that all uses covered by the Access Copyright licence are now covered by the new "fair dealing for education" exception in the Copyright Act.

In our opinion, the sweeping interpretations of fair dealing promoted by CMEC in their recently released Copyright Matters! are unfounded and may have a devastating impact on Canadian creators and publishers.

We have been hearing rumours of this impending action for two months and are not surprised to receive this notice. The disappointing fact is that the education sector has taken a unilateral interpretation of the definition of "fair dealing for education" and has ignored our offers to enter into a constructive dialogue on this issue.

While there is no question that this action will have a serious impact on Access Copyright's licencing revenue in 2013, we are working hard on plans to address this challenge and hope to work collaboratively with the education sector to do so.

We will keep you informed on this issue as new developments arise.

The ACCC Copyright Policy Does Not Meet the Supreme Court's Fairness Factors

The Association of Community Colleges of Canada (ACCC) claims that its "Fair Dealing" policy eliminates the need for an Access Copyright licence. The reasoning behind this position is faulty. As a result, it's an unhelpful approach to deciding what is fair dealing in post-secondary educational institutions.

Learn more about how the ACCC's "Fair Dealing" policy does not meet the Supreme Court's fair dealing test.

Access Copyright December Distributions

Access Copyright will be making a series of distributions in December to rightsholders.

These distributions include:

Full reporting (title-specific) royalties collected for copying in post-secondary institutions, businesses, not-for-profits and foreign reproduction rights organizations.
Royalties collected for copying by corporate licensees.
Pending payments include those under $25.
Royalties received in September 2012 for Canadian writers from the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society in the UK.
Royalties collected from transactional licences.

Learn more about how we distribute royalties to creators and publishers.

September Board of Directors Retreat Promises New Direction for Access Copyright

Creator Co-Chair James Romanow (Credit: Gregory Varano)

Publisher Co-Chair Nancy Gerrish (Credit: Gregory Varano)

In September, the Access Copyright Board of Directors and Executive Team held a day-and-a-half retreat at the Kempenfelt Conference Centre in Barrie, Ontario.

The aim of the retreat was to take a critical look at Access Copyright and to see what future directions and future opportunities the organization should pursue and take advantage of in the years ahead.

The atmosphere was informal, the discussion was spirited and the big idea that came out of the retreat is as exciting as it was unexpected. What emerged from the retreat was the bold, new direction to focus outwardly toward users of content.

Recently, we spoke to the co-chairs of the Board of Directors, Nancy Gerrish and James Romanow, about the retreat and the new direction Access Copyright aims to take in the next few years.