Today, two separate announcements were made by Toronto's northern university. There was a common theme to the announcements.
First, York declared they would not be paying for any Canadian content represented by Access Copyright, the collective of writers and publishers representing all of Canadian literature. In effect, they have decided they will either try to use copies of CanLit for free, hoping new definitions of fair dealing will excuse copious copying of our nation's writing, or they will simply shut this writing out of their classrooms. Either way, not a great day for York's students of Canadian culture.
Why won't York sign a license for CanLit with Access Copyright? They don't want to pay $26 per student for copyright clearance to over 22 million works in the AC repertoire. To give you an idea of scale, the average per-student university tuition in Canada right now is upwards of $5,000 per year. The copyright license to pay all Canadian writers and publishers for their contribution to education, again, is $26.
York cemented their priorities today by tweeting this welcoming announcement to returning students. This tweet from York's registrarial services says it all, doesn't it?
Want to be paid for your work by YorkU? Too bad.
If you are a returning #YorkU student and plan to enrol in fall courses, please ensure you clear ALL outstanding debts. If you owe > $75 you will be blocked from enrolment. This includes summer debts. So please make a payment or visit student client services to make the appropriate arrangements BEFORE enrolment begins.
Owe money to YorkU? Don't bother enrolling.
Welcome to the future of learning in Canada.
Tweet
As always, thanks to the Devil's Artisan for their most excellent collection of woodcut images. This one is called, "the bad student" and represents a parsimonious university punishing both students and Canadian artists just for being themselves.
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