Title: Collective Licensing Agencies and the Copyright Board

*Updated: January 2025
Learning Objectives:

- Describe the roles of the the Copyright Board and collective licensing agencies in the Canadian copyright landscape
- Summarize the regulatory relationship between collective licensing agencies and the Copyright Board

What is Access Copyright?
Access Copyright is a collective licensing agency or collective. Authors and copyright owners can choose to have licences to their works managed by collectives like Access Copyright. Educational institutions can choose to enter into agreements with Access Copyright in order to cover the routine copying of literary works in the collective’s repertoire in their institutions, according to formulas agreed on by both parties.

What is that "quasi-judicial arm" thingamajiggy again?
A quasi-judicial arm’s length regulatory agency is a term describing several government agencies that are part of the overall structure of the government, but are not directly controlled by the government or a minister of the Crown. Perhaps the most well-known (though often misunderstood) is the national broadcasting and telecommunications regulator the CRTC or “Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.”

"Upward creep" in tariff levels?
Some have noted an upward creeping trend in tariff levels because when collectives request a raise in the tariff level, the copyright board may give them less then they ask, but will rarely give them nothing. This may indeed be because there is not substantial representation of user interests on the Board. In a similar vein there are doubts around whether the Board can be truly objective in their consideration of the positions of social movements surrounding copyright such as copyleft and the creative commons movement (D’Alton, 2013, p. 211-212).

Resolution of Access Copyright v. York (2021)
On the issue of whether the Copyright Board tariffs are mandatory or voluntary, in 2021 the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal – that such tariffs are voluntary, stating that “under the existing relevant legislation in this appeal, an approved tariff is not binding against a user who does not accept a licence” (York University v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright), 2021 SCC 32, para 76).

This means that post secondary institutions are free to pursue other ways to remain compliant with copyright law without an Access Copyright institutional licence.

The original intention of the Copyright Appeal Board was to:

Q: The original intention of the Copyright Appeal Board was to:
- Balance the rights of copyright owners with those of users

 
- Regulate the tariffs for the performance right of music
- Control the egregious increases in the costs of licences set out by a collective licensing agency at the time
- All of the above (correct)

When users and institutions enter into a licence agreement with a collective licensing agency, they are allowed to use works in that collective’s repertoire in the ways that are outlined in the terms and conditions of that licence.

Q: When users and institutions enter into a licence agreement with a collective licensing agency, they are allowed to use works in that collective’s repertoire in the ways that are outlined in the terms and conditions of that licence.
A: true

The Copyright Board is:

Q: The Copyright Board is:
- A court of law
- Fully independent of the Government of Canada
- A quasi-judicial, arm’s length regulatory agency (correct)
- A Quasimodo arm's length gargoyle of Notre Dame

When issues around the terms and conditions of a licence agreement with a collective arise, collectives can apply to the Copyright Board to address the situation with a tariff.

Q: When issues around the terms and conditions of a licence agreement with a collective arise, collectives can apply to the Copyright Board to address the situation with a tariff.
A: true

An approved tariff is published in Part 1 of the the official newspaper of the Government of Canada, which is called:

Q: An approved tariff is published in Part 1 of the the official newspaper of the Government of Canada, which is called:
- Pravda
- The Canada Gazette (correct)
- The Canada Gazelle
- The Canada Impala

Choose the correct statement.

Credits: Collective Licensing Agencies and the Copyright Board; by University of Alberta; 2020; licence CC BY 4.0