Reaction to Federal Court Decision on York University Fair Dealing

Earlier this month, York University in Toronto lost a case in Federal Court of Canada in its legal dispute with the collective licensing agency Access Copyright.

Access Copyright had sued the school, alleging it had been improperly reproducing and authorizing the copying of protected works.

The university argued that any portion of protected materials copied for course packs was covered by the “fair dealing” provisions of Canadian copyright legislation as interpreted by the Supreme Court of Canada and thus exempt from copyright fees.

York has not yet said if it intends to appeal.

Reaction to the decision includes:

• Court Decision a Big Win for Creators and Publishers (Access Copyright, July 12, 2017)
• Ignoring the Supreme Court: Federal Court Judge Hands Access Copyright Fair Dealing Victory (blog post by Michael Geist, University of Ottawa, July 13, 2017)
•  Access Copyright v York University (Fair Dealing in Education blog, July 13, 2017)
• Access Copyright v. York U – And All Eyes Over to York U for What's Next (Excess Copyright blog, July 14, 2017)
• The Federal Court of Canada Puts the “Fair” in the Copyright Act’s “Fair Dealing” Exceptions (McInnes Cooper analysis on CanLII Connects, July 18, 2017)
• Court Ruling on York's Copyright Infringements a  Win for Canadian Creators (Macdonald-Laurier Institute, July 18, 2017)
• Students Deeply Concerned With Federal Court Ruling Against York University (Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, July 18, 2017)
• Access Copyright v York University (Ontario Library Association analysis, July 19, 2017)
• The York University Case: Crisis in Copyright Law (BoyneClarke LLP blog, July 21, 2017)