CMEC Applies to Intervene in Federal Court Access Copyright V. York University Litigation
Toronto, January 31, 2014– The Copyright Consortium of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), has requested leave from the Federal Court of Canada to intervene in the lawsuit between Access Copyright and York University.
The consortium is requesting leave to intervene so that its unique voice, which speaks for the pan-Canadian K-12 education sector outside of Quebec, is heard by the Federal Court in this important litigation.
In a landmark decision in 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada established that “short excerpts” copied by teachers for their students do not infringe copyright because copying “short excerpts” is permitted by the fair dealing provision in the Copyright Act.
Following that decision, an agreed interpretation of “short excerpts” was developed for use by all levels of the education system, from kindergarten to postgraduate studies. York University and K-12 schools use the same interpretation of “short excerpts,” in their respective Fair Dealing Guidelines.
In this lawsuit, Access Copyright is challenging this interpretation of fair dealing used by students and educators across Canada. The issues in the lawsuit therefore reach beyond just York University. The CMEC Copyright Consortium wants to ensure that the Federal Court has the benefit of hearing from all relevant stakeholders when it makes its decision.
Details of the Fair Dealing Guidelines can be found on www.cmec.ca/copyrightinfo.
The consortium is composed of the ministers of education of the provinces and territories, with the exception of Quebec.
About CMEC
Founded in 1967, CMEC is the collective voice of Canada's ministers of education. It provides leadership in education at the pan-Canadian and international levels and contributes to the exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction of provinces and territories over education. For more information, visit us at www.cmec.ca.
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Information
Colin Bailey
Director, Communications
Cell: 416-777-4879
Tel.: 416-962-8100, ext. 259
E-mail: c.bailey@cmec.ca
Twitter: @CCMEC