Access Copyright seized over 50 boxes of copied course packs and textbooks, as well as photocopying equipment, from Quality Control Copy Centre near St. George campus last Thursday. Access Copyright, the Canadian copyright licensing agency, obtained an order from the Federal Court of Canada to take away the materials.
Located at 333 Bloor St. W., Quality Control Copy Centre has been a frequent supplier of materials for U of T students and professors. The store could not be reached for comment; a sign on the door said they are closed for renovations.
Access Copyright had been monitoring the copy shop for several years. The agency regularly monitors shops and looks for unlicensed materials. Legally, shops must obtain authorization from the copyright owner before reproducing an excerpt. Access copyright acts as a go-between and offers licenses to copy shops. Day-to-day photocopying doesn’t have to be tracked, but shops have to record and report course pack photocopying.
“Since 2006 we’ve known that Quality Control was infringing through copying and we collected evidence, and in 2007 we filed a statement claim at the federal court,” said a spokesperson for the agency. According to its website, Access Copyright won a $132,000 judgment against the operator of the Quality Control Copy Centre in 2008.
Access Copyright told Quality Control they were required to destroy all illegal material, and that they were liable for an undisclosed amount. A representative said the amount was in the six figures.
“Purchasing pirated textbooks is essentially buying stolen property,” wrote Maureen Cavan, executive director of Access Copyright, on the agency’s website. “If the price of a textbook or coursepack sounds too good to be true, it most likely was produced illegally. I urge students to be ethical and buy these items legally from a reputable source.”
Ethical behaviour isn’t easy on the wallet. For Lindsay Jensen, a third-year film student at U of T, course reader costs will almost triple. “The first one that I bought in September from Quality Control Copy cost $30, and it was about 1.5 inches thick,” Jensen said. “But my professor told us that he can’t use that place anymore because the department’s administration is really cracking down on copyright, so for our second course reader he needs to go through a legitimate place, and it’s going to cost $85.”
Many students also resent paying the high prices because the course packs are often low quality.
“I don’t mind paying $90 for a textbook, but I hate paying $90 for a collection of papers that are written on, or that aren’t even legible, and that I’ll probably never use again,” said Nuria Elkout, another U of T student. “And even if you want to use it again because there was a good article in it, there’s no index, so you can’t even find it.”
Access Copyright is also targeting professors who go to unlicensed shops. In September, Edith Hillan, the faculty and academics vice provost, sent a memo asking professors to use only licensed photocopiers. “We have been informed by Access Copyright […] that a course taught by you may have used a copy shop that does not have a licence with Access Copyright for the production and sale of coursepacks,” the message reads.
