Supreme Court of Canada to Decide Whether the Photocopying of Textbooks for Classroom Instruction is Fair Dealing

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted leave to appeal from a decision of the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) in Province of Alberta et al v The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency [2010] FCA 198, on the issue of whether the photocopying of textbooks for the use in classroom instruction is “fair dealing” under sections 29 and 29.1 of the Copyright Act. In 2009, the Copyright Board of Canada (Board) approved a tariff proposed by Access Copyright which included compensation for the photocopying of excerpts from textbooks in primary and secondary level educational institutions in Canada (other than in Quebec). A collective of the Ministries of Education of the twelve Canadian provinces and territories affected and Ontario school boards (Collective) objected to the tariff. The Collective asserted that the copies were made for an allowable purpose under sections 29 and 29.1 of the Copyright Act and that the dealing was fair, and thus the photocopying was not subject to royalties. The Board had ruled that photocopying for use in classroom instruction was not fair dealing and was subject to royalties. The Collective appealed the Board’s decision and in 2010, the FCA upheld the Board’s decision. The brief note on the leave-to-appeal decision by a three-judge panel of the SCC can be found by following this link. Summary by: Lauren Lodenquai