august 2014
42
INHOUSE
I n d u s t r y S p o t l i g h t
FOLLOWING A LANDMARK Su-
preme Court decision and amendments
to Canada's Copyright Act, it's "business
unusual" for Access Copyright, the coun-
try's largest copyright-holder group. The
organization is battling tough challenges
in Copyright Board proceedings. It faces
the prospect of dwindling revenues from
post-secondary institutions, and as it moves
ahead with a lawsuit against York Univer-
sity, copyright experts wonder if the organi-
zation will have much of a business among
the ivory towers in the future.
maJor changEs sincE 2012
Until a few years ago, post-secondary in-
stitutions routinely bought licences from
Access Copyright. These agreements were
permission from authors, publishers, and
other rights holders for the schools to use
copyright-protected material.
In 2012, two major changes in copyright
law helped upset that tradition. The fi rst
I n d u s t r y S p o t l i g h t
organization is battling tough challenges
in Copyright Board proceedings. It faces
the prospect of dwindling revenues from
access Copyright's
next chapter
the country's largest rights-holder group presses forward
with its York university litigation and faces the prospect
of declining revenues from post-secondary institutions.
BY stEFaN DuBOWsKI
