Copyright, Collectives, and Contracts: New Math for Educational Institutions and Libraries

It is more than a decade since the last reforms to the Copyright Act came into force. While the statute has remained static, the “copyright worlds” of institutions involved in the provision of education and library services in Canada have changed dramatically. These changes have come as a result of the ways in which these institutions provide services. They have also come about as a result of the ways in which the actors in the information environment in Canada have changed their behaviours. Whatever the causes of these changes, institutions involved in education, library services, archival activities or museum practice find themselves in increasingly varied positions with respect to changes in the copyright legislation such as those proposed in the current Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Copyright Act. Given these varied positions, it may be difficult to assess just what the impact of the proposed changes will be on this sector. As this chapter will illustrate, the impact that Parliament can have by implementing these changes will be directly affected by the individual managerial decisions of each institutional decision-maker involved in education, library services, archival activity and museum practice in Canada