Copyright board of Canada approves new tariff increase for the reprographic reproduction of printed works by educational institutions

2009-01-01

C
OPYRIGHTBOARDOFCANADAAPPROVESNEWTARIFFINCREASE
FORTHEREPROGRAPHICREPRODUCTIONOFPRINTEDWORKSBY
EDUCATIONALINSTITUTIONS

LAURENTCARRIÈREANDJASONMOSCOVICI*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
L
AWYERS,ANDPATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

OnJune26
th2009,theCopyrightBoardofCanada(the“Board”),aCanadian
regulatorybodyempoweredtoestablishtheroyaltiestobepaidfortheuseof
copyrightedworksentrustedtoacollectivesociety,approvedanewtariffapplicable
inCanadatowardsthereproductionofliterary,dramaticandartisticworksincluded
inbooks,newspapersandmagazinesforuseinprimaryandsecondarylevel
educationalinstitutions.ThisdecisionrepresentsthefirsttimethattheBoardwas
requestedtoapprovesuchatariffincreaseforthesetypesofworkssince
photocopiesarewidelyknownasbeinganimportanttoolforCanadianeducational
institutions.
PartytothisdecisionisAccessCopyright,theCanadianCopyrightLicensing
Agency,anon-profitentityrepresentingauthorsandpublishersofcopyright
protectedworkspublishedinbooksandotherprintedmaterialsinCanada.Access
Copyrightsignsagreementswithcopyrightownersandadministerstheright,through
theissuanceoflicenses,toauthorisethereprographyoftheirworks.
OnMarch312004,AccessCopyrightfiledaproposedtariffchangewiththe
CopyrightBoardofCanada,requestingthatfortheyears2005to2009
thecurrent
rate($2.45perstudentperyear)beincreasedafterhavingbeenunabletoreacha
newagreementwithrespecttotheroyaltiestobepaidforphotocopiesofcopyright
protectedworksmadebyeducationalinstitutions.
Tojustifythistariffchange,AccessCopyrightcitedamarkedincreaseinthevolume
ofworksbeingphotocopied,aswellasthefactthatmostdocumentsbeingcopieddo
notfallunderthefairdealingexceptiontocopyrightinfringementasrecognizedby
theCanadianCopyrightAct(the“Act”).

©CIPS,2009.*Lawyerandtrade-markagent,LaurentCarrière,isaseniorpartnerwithLEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentandtrade-markagents.JasonMoscoviciisan
articlingstudentwiththefirm.Publishedat[2009-07-23]WorldMediaLawReport.Publication
328.069.

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TheCanadianconceptoffairdealing(nottobeconfusedwiththeAmericanfairuse)
recognisesthatreproductionofworkforthepurposeofresearch,privatestudy,
criticism,reviewornewsreportingwouldnotbeconsideredasinfringingon
copyright.AccessCopyrightwasoftheopinionthatmostofthephotocopiesmade
byeducationalinstitutionsdidnotfitwithinthescopeofthefairdealingexception
andthereforethetariffincreaseisjustifiedtotakeintoaccountthisuse.
ObjectingtotheproposedtariffaretheMinistriesofEducationoftheCanadian
provincesandterritoriesoutsideQuebec(TheObjectors).Theysubmittedseveral
reasonstotheBoardastowhythetariffshouldnotbeincreased.Firstly,the
Objectorswereoftheopinionthatthefairdealingexceptionisapplicabletothe
photocopiesbeingmadeinschoolssinceresearch,privatestudy,criticismand
reviewareallcornerstonestoanyeducationalinstitution’scurriculum.Also,the
Objectorsstatedthatpursuanttothe2004importantdecisionrenderedbythe
SupremeCourtofCanada,intheCCHcaseitwasrecognizedthatallexceptionsto
copyrightinfringementaretobeconsideredas“userrights”andthereforemustbe
givenaliberalinterpretation.Giventhisliberalinterpretation,theObjectorsbelieved
thatvirtuallyalluseofcopyrightprotectedworksshouldconstitutefairdealingby
educationalinstitutions.
Lastly,theObjectorsreferredtoanotherexceptiontocopyrightinfringementunder
theAct,wherereproductionofaworkforexaminationorfordisplaypurposesbyan
educationalinstitutionisnotconsideredcopyrightinfringement,providedthatthe
workinquestionisnotcommerciallyavailableinamediumthatisappropriateforthe
purposereferredto.
Inordertoevaluatetheissuesathand,theBoardreiteratedthegeneralprincipals
surroundingcopyrightandcopyrightinfringement.Theboardconfirmedthat
exceptionstotheActareconsidereduserrightsthatmustbegivenaliberal
interpretationinordertomaintainabalancebetweentherightsofcopyrightholders
andtheinterestsofusers.
TheBoardalsomentionedthatthefairdealingexceptiononlyappliestothe
purposesspecificallyprovidedforintheAct,thatofprivatestudy,research,criticism,
reviewandnewsreporting.Otherdealingswouldnotbecoveredbytheexception,
eveniftheycouldrationallybeconsideredas“fair”.
Onthetopicofdealings,anallowabledealingdoesnotmakeita“fairdealing”as
fairnessisassessedbyseveralfactorssuchasthepurpose,thecharacterandthe
amountofthedealing,anyalternativestothedealing,thenatureoftheworkandthe
effectofthedealingonthework.

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Morespecificallyhowever,thelegalissuesthatwereraisedbytheBoardwerethe
following:
1)Towhatextentcanschoolsbenefitfromthefairdealingexception
thatexistsunderCanadianCopyrightLaw?
2)Doestheexceptionapplicabletoeducationalinstitutionsconcerning
non-commerciallyavailableworksapplytoworksinAccess
Copyright’srepertoire?
3)Areworksofnon-affiliatedrightsholders,whohavecashedaroyalty
cheque,partofAccessCopyright’srepertoire?
Concerningthefirstquestion,theBoardtooknoteofastudypreparedbytheparties
thatmeasuredthevolumeofphotocopyingmadeeachyearbyfinancialinstitutions.
Forexample,forthe2005-2006period,itwasdeterminedthat10.3billionpages
werephotocopied,250millionpagesofthoseweresubjecttoremunerationasper
thetariff.
TheBoardproceededtoanalyzeallthecriteriaforfairdealingandacknowledged
thatmanyofthephotocopiesdidinfactbenefitfromtheexceptiongiventhecontext
oftheiruse;theBoardthenseparatedthedocumentsinto4categories,withonlythe
fourthonebeingsubjectedtoatariff,thatwhereacopyismadebyateacherwith
instructionstoreadthematerial.
Forthesecondquestionconcerningtheexceptiontowardseducationalinstitutions,
theBoardwasoftheopinionthataworkis“commerciallyavailable”ifalicenceis
available“withinareasonabletimeandforareasonablepriceandmaybelocated
withreasonableeffort”.Thereforetheexceptioncoveringreproductionofworksfor
instructionandexaminationinaneducationalinstitutionwouldnotapplytoworks
availableunderlicensebyAccessCopyrightsincethoseworkswouldbe
“commerciallyavailable”.
Lastly,onthequestionofroyaltiespaidtonon-membersofAccessCopyrightand
theinfluencethatwouldhaveonanewtariff,theBoardconcludedthatnaturally,
AccessCopyrightwouldonlybeabletocollectroyaltiesforworksfoundinits
repertoire.However,a“collectivesociety”suchasAccessCopyrightisauthorizedto
actbyappointmentasone’sagentandthisagencyrelationshipdoesnotneedtobe
explicit.Therefore,ratificationoftheagreementbetweenpartiescanbyimpliedby
anactsuchascashinginachequeissuedtothembythecollectivesociety.The
BoardconcludedthatNon-memberrightsholders,whocashthechequethey
receivedforroyaltiesbyAccessCopyright,implicitlygrantthemthepowertoacton
theirbehalfandthereforecopiesofsuchworksshouldbecalculatedinthe
remuneration.
Toconclude,inlightoftheabovementionedreasons,theBoardapprovedand
establishedthenewrateat$5.16perFull-TimeEquivalentstudent,peryear.Given

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thattheestimatednumberofstudentswasdeterminedtobeabout4millionforthe
2005-2006period,theroyaltiestobepaidwouldbeinthenumberof20million.
However,theBoardacknowledgedthefinancialburdenthatthisnewtariffwould
createontheCanadianeducationsystemandapplieda10percentdiscountforthe
firstfouryears,atarateof$4.64perstudent;theratereturningto5,16$for2009
onward.

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