I haven't seen a thread about this and I figured it might be important for people to know about this..

According to McMaster Student Union's twitter, McMaster is thinking about signing Access Copyright, which will increase the flat fee currently paid by students by over 600%! Right now, students pay $3.80 for Copyright and it could increase to up to $26 in the new agreement.

"20$ X 25,000 undergrads could amount to an extra 500,000$ in fees collected from #McMaster students for #Copyright #McSU" - @MSU_McMaster

Universities such as UBC, York, U of Windsor, etc., have already declined to sign this agreement.

I'm not the most informed person about this, so I'm not going to try to explain it and end up getting information wrong, but here's some links you might be interested in which should explain what is going on:

MSU: McMaster Copyright Deal Will Cost Students More Money

MSU: What is Access Copyright? (Access Copyright and the Impact on McMaster Students)

CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers): ** A Bad Deal: AUCC/Access Copyright Model License Agreement ** (EFFECTS OF THE NEW AGREEMENT)

Articles:
McGill Daily: Ontario universities criticized for new copyright agreement

The Spec: Copyright agreement controversial at Mac

What are your thoughts on the (possible) new agreement?

The fact that it goes from $3.80 to $26, wow.
ARE THEY SERIOUS
Is this because they're eliminating the $0.10 per course pack page? How do they calculate that...based on the courses I take or what? Sorry if I'm sounding ignorant, but if someone could clarify that that'd be helpful.

honestly, $26 dollars a year (if i'm understanding it correctly) isn't the BIGGEST DEAL ON EARTH, but if you add it up from all the students, that's a substantial amount. it's also another two hours of my summer I spend working to pay off the ridiculous tuition fees I have to pay as a student.

How much of that ~$500 000 is McMaster getting (if at all?). Is it ALL going to the publishers?

Okay just to be clear
Old agreement:
Everyone pays $3.80, and then $0.10 per page in courseware.

New agreement:
Everyone pays $26.

Theoretically, the actual prices for courseware should go DOWN.
So it'll benefit people who have more than 222 pages of courseware (26-3.80)/0.1 = 222.

So it'll theoretically be better for some, and worse for others.
There's also the worry that McMaster might just keep the prices the same, and pocket the 0.10 that used to go to Access Copyright.


If courseware prices stay the same, students get screwed over.

Problem is most people don't have 222 pages of copyrighted courseware. I have had maybe 50 pages of courseware that consisted of copyrighted material in the past three years (plus a bunch of summer courses).

Plus it has a whole bunch of other downsides (http://www.caut.ca/pages.asp?page=1079) It's really a very bad agreement, and there's a reason why many Universities are rejected it, and most stakeholder groups take issue with it.

Originally Posted by arathbon

Problem is most people don't have 222 pages of copyrighted courseware. I have had maybe 50 pages of courseware that consisted of copyrighted material in the past three years (plus a bunch of summer courses).

Plus it has a whole bunch of other downsides (http://www.caut.ca/pages.asp?page=1079) It's really a very bad agreement, and there's a reason why many Universities are rejected it, and most stakeholder groups take issue with it.

I was going to say this.

Instead of making people who are actually using the copyright pay an amount that depends on the number of pages in CCW, they're making everyone pay a large, flat sum. Even though CCW is ridiculously expensive, doesn't it make sense that the people who need it should be the ones paying for it?

Not fair at all, especially in a faulty where CCW is uncommon (Science).

Originally Posted by britb

I was going to say this.

Instead of making people who are actually using the copyright pay an amount that depends on the number of pages in CCW, they're making everyone pay a large, flat sum. Even though CCW is ridiculously expensive, doesn't it make sense that the people who need it should be the ones paying for it?

Not fair at all, especially in a faulty where CCW is uncommon (Science).

We live in a country where we pay for things where we don't necessarily need it. Personally I would have been ok with a price hike but clearly CCWs do not average out to 222 pages per student. I really thinking McMaster themselves should be working out a license with Access Copyright instead of signing a model license that Access Copyright worked out with AUCC. Maybe other universities average out to 222 pages per student, but McMaster doesn't.

I never use any courseware... this is BS.

Hello all, through our efforts the issue is also gaining momentum with a feature in the Hamilton Spectator today and several radio shows also doing interviews http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...versial-at-mac

As I've stated in the article, the expert opinion by Ariel Katz; there are many reasons for why I don't believe this seems to be a good deal from the student perspective. While the caveat generating the most attention for students is the fee structure, I am just as concerned about the more technical clauses identified in the CAUT article published above and reiterated by several copyright experts as well as the two student lobbying groups OUSA and CASA that the MSU is a member off. I will be going back to the administration next week to get an update from their end on what's happening, from my understanding like most Universities they had signed an unofficial intent to sign but it hasn't been officially ratified yet.

At some point I am considering doing a letter writing campaign as well, I might require all of your help. As a rep of the MSU I only hold so much clout or sway, the student voice and opinion is what really puts administration into a corner. I'll update MI.

For now please share the MSU website article and Spectator one on Twitter/FB, perhaps using the hashtag #ACMcMaster ; Social Media analytic reports are quite effective sometimes as leverage

Are they f***king high?!?

First government promises more grants, better ease of access to money to pay tuition and stable multi-national university communion groups such as the AUCC to be FOR the students.

Now they're trying to DELIBERATELY screw us over like this? Something is very wrong with this country T_T

Originally Posted by sam_akbari

Are they f***king high?!?

First government promises more grants, better ease of access to money to pay tuition and stable multi-national university communion groups such as the AUCC to be FOR the students.

Now they're trying to DELIBERATELY screw us over like this? Something is very wrong with this country T_T

To be fair I don't think the Government can be directly blamed for any of this. The Federal government is actually deliberating Bill C-13 which will actually add Educational usage of Copyright material under a fair dealing clause for free usage for research/academic purposes, according to some experts (including Ariel Katz in the Spec article) making the Universities signing the Access Copyright agreement redundant. AUCC is also an independent entity.

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

To be fair I don't think the Government can be directly blamed for any of this. The Federal government is actually deliberating Bill C-13 which will actually add Educational usage of Copyright material under a fair dealing clause for free usage for research/academic purposes, according to some experts (including Ariel Katz in the Spec article) making the Universities signing the Access Copyright agreement redundant. AUCC is also an independent entity.

If Bill C-13 were to happen, approximately how long would it take to get passed?

And I think that a letter-writing campaign would be a great idea - maybe a petition as well? Might help them see how outraged students are at this and how ridiculous their demands are (ie. inability to store online and/or outside institutional premises, hyperlinking, and sharing with individuals outside our institution).

I have no disagreement with this, especially since I pirate most of my textbooks and whatnot, so I don't feel as bad.. since I wasn't paying for a lot of what I should have anyways. I'm not hugely financially burdened by fees in general though, so... take that as you will.

Originally Posted by Vessi

If Bill C-13 were to happen, approximately how long would it take to get passed?

And I think that a letter-writing campaign would be a great idea - maybe a petition as well? Might help them see how outraged students are at this and how ridiculous their demands are (ie. inability to store online and/or outside institutional premises, hyperlinking, and sharing with individuals outside our institution).

No idea to be honest, Some say it'll be in place by September. You can never predict how long deliberations will happen at Parliament/Committees, this was actually supposed to be passed in spring but they decided to push a couple of other Bills before the house first instead; as you might know each bill leads to a storm of controversy in the Media/Opposition so it all has to be strategic by the government