Copyright deal ahould have payoffs for professors

by Eric Smith

A deal reached between Quebec universities and the Union des Écrivains et Écrivaines Québécois (UNÉQ), a consortium that represents the rights of copyright holders, will make it simpler for professors to report their use of multiple photocopies in teaching.

Under the new arrangement, which officially came into effect on January 1 but will not be implemented until late February, each university in Quebec pays UNÉQ $4.60 per full-time student per year. (The Ministry of Education chips in an additional 88 cents per FTE.)

n exchange, UNÉQ grants the universities a license that covers multiple reproduction for teaching puposes of 25 pages or 10% of a work, whichever is less. In addition, professors may also reproduce an entire article in a compilation or an entire chapter in a book, provided the chapter does not exceed 20% of the total work. A professor wishing to reproduce larger excerpts must seek permission from UNÉQ, which will impose a fee of five cents per page.

In all cases, those making multiple photocopies of copyrighted work must register their copies with UNÉQ. Forms for this purpose will be made available through the offices of the deans. UNÉQ has also been asked to mount a form on the Web.

Alternatively, professors may have their photocopying done at one of the accredited photocopy centres on campus. At the moment, there are two such accredited printers: McGill Printing and H.D. Eastman Systems, both of which will handle all the reporting requirements.

In each Quebec university, supervision of the copyright agreement falls under the responsibility of the secretary-general. What does McGill's secretary-general think of the deal?

"It's certainly a lot simpler than the previous agreement," says Victoria Lees. "No one will believe that, though, simply because compliance in the past at McGill, as at most Quebec universities, was minimal."

She adds, "To be fair, the old agreement was very complicated in its reporting structure. Furthermore, a few years ago, UNÉQ represented copyright holders in Quebec and Canada only. Today they also represent Australia, France, the UK and a number of smaller European countries, and they are negotiating a reciprocal arrangement with the U.S.

"Now that they are representing a bigger pool, they have made reporting easier. And they gave the universities a few concessions on how much we could copy, so I think they can expect better compliance."

The director of UNÉQ's copyright service, Rose-Marie Lafrance, said the new agreement, three years in the making, represents "a genuine partnership with Quebec universities."

Like Lees, Lafrance expects it will lead to greater compliance on the part of university professors across the province. "We're very happy with the deal," she says.

So when does the deal come into effect? "We are waiting for the forms to be sent from UNÉQ,"says Lees. "As soon as they arrive, I will send a notice to all members of the academic staff explaining the new system."

She adds, "Many of our professors are not only reproducers of copyrighted works, they are also producers. So it will be interesting to see if they notice any increase in their revenues."