Access Copyright


Access © or Access Copyright is the operating name of a Canada Business Corporations Act corporation whose official registration name is The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency. It is a not-for-profit copyright collective that collects revenues from licensed Canadian businesses, government, schools, libraries and other copyright users for the photocopying of print works and distributes those monies to the rightsholders of those works, such as publishers and authors from Canada and around the world.
Access Copyright covers works published in Australia, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

University model license

When universities sign on to a license with Access Copyright, their professors and students are given permission to do certain copying of copyrighted works. The university is generally charged a base rate per full-time student for this license, usually passed down to students in the form of mandatory fees.
2011 AUCC model license
A new model, negotiated by AUCC in 2011, would see universities pay a rate of $26 per full-time student. The old agreement, which expired in 2010, charged only $3.38 plus an additional 10 cents per page coursepacks, photocopied compilations of readings designed by instructors and sold to students. Moreover, additional stipulations would proscribe faculty and students from keeping copies of journal articles in personal libraries, or on personal computers or email accounts.
These changes have proved controversial, and numerous universities have opted out of the deal.
Universities that have opted out:
Universities that have signed on:

Controversy

Access Copyright has also started charging universities for e-mailing links to copyrighted information, even in cases where there was no copyrighted material present. They are charging the full price for each link e-mailed.
In late 2019, Access Copyright obtained a court order requiring 300 schools across Canada to supply handouts and lesson plans from the last seven years. The demand, intended to find use of copyright material, was described as a 'logistical nightmare'.