Copyright Agency takes on Universities Australia
Image Credit: Tim Levy
PDLN member the Copyright Agency has lodged an action in the Copyright Tribunal to determine the value of the copyright licence Australian universities rely on to copy and share extensive amounts of educational content. The action comes after a breakdown in commercial discussions with Universities Australia (UA), for a new licensing agreement, beginning in 2019. UA represents 39 Australian universities in these discussions.
The action follows significant disputes between licensing bodies and universities in Canada, New Zealand and recent developments in a long running US case between CCC and Georgia State University. In each case licensing organisations have made progress against determined resistance from the academic sector.
The Copyright Agency’s licence covers copyright material that is a core input into teaching at Australia’s 39 universities. It covers more than 10 million pages (digital and hard copy) annually – for the sector’s 1.4 million students, 60,000 academics and 70,000 professional staff.
The annual cost of the university licence is currently $32.5m, or 9 cents per student per day. The fee has been decreasing in real terms, given inflation, the rapid growth in student numbers and the fact there has been a huge increase in the digital platforms available for copying and sharing material.The current copyright fee represents 0.11% of total universities expenditure of $28.6 billion (in 2016).
Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling says, “The explosion of digital content has radically changed the way universities provide educational content to students. The educational statutory licence, which Copyright Agency administers, provides access to an enormous amount of material, including material that is printed, digitally stored and communicated to students across multiple digital platforms.
“Licence fees support the Australian educational publishing industry to continue to produce high-quality educational material. Not paying a fair rate undermines the ability of publishers, authors and artists to invest, innovate and develop more Australian content".
Copyright Agency is also in dispute with local MMOs and the NSW state government.
