University of Saskatchewan to operate outside of Access Copyright's agreement with the AUCC

According to Greg Fowler, vice-president finance and resources, faculty, teaching staff and instructors are being encouraged to make use of hyperlinks and digital resources under licence in library collections. Also, an expanded U of S copyright office will support copyright clearance where needed, such as for printed course packages and academic course material use.
"The agreement with Access Copyright was not cost-effective for the University of Saskatchewan" said Fowler. "Our decision is to move with the changing environment in terms of how materials subject to copyright are used for teaching and learning purposes."
In April 2012, Access Copyright and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) agreed to a new model licence for the reproduction of materials in Access Copyright's repertoire. Under this model licence, Access Copyright would receive $26 per full-time student equivalent. The U of S has been operating without an agreement with Access Copyright since August 31, 2011, when a decision was made to opt out of its Interim Tariff. Since that time the U of S has had an extensive education campaign underway to help staff, faculty and students understand how to use and distribute material.
"We have been committing time, effort, and resources to put procedures and tools in place to utilize materials for which we already hold licences and simplify seeking transactional licences," said Brett Fairbairn, vice-president academic and provost.
He added that the university's decision to remain outside of the Access Copyright agreement was based on several reasons, including dwindling use for printed course packs, increased reliance on digital delivery of course material, and the limited repertoire included in the licence agreement.
The U of S Library has extensive licence agreements for electronic materials that allow access to tens of thousands of journals and periodicals. The library has developed a searchable database that will allow users to quickly and easily identify permitted uses for each journal. It will be up and running by the end of July 2012.
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For more information, contact:
Mark Ferguson, U of S Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-1851
m.ferguson@usask.ca