Today’s student is more likely to carry a digital notebook than a paper notebook. Researchers and innovators instantaneously share huge amounts of intellectual data through digital means. Photocopying is used by a smaller number of students, faculty, researchers and innovators. Yet, Canada’s copyright laws were last updated when the internet was still in its infancy and paper copying was the primary method of sharing information.

Students and faculty need to have fair and reasonable educational use of internet materials that have been made publicly available by copyright owners, with no expectation of payment for their use. Copyright law must also be amended to facilitate technology enhanced learning so that students participating in a program of learning through the internet, whether they are located in the same community as a university or at a great distance from it, will not be disadvantaged in comparison with their counterparts physically present in the classroom.

The law must also be changed to permit university researchers to obtain and keep research materials in digital format.  These and other changes to copyright law can enable educational institutions to take advantage new information and communications technologies, including the Internet, for education and research in a highly competitive knowledge economy.

Finally, AUCC recommends that any prohibition against the circumvention of digital locks applied to online copyright material should permit circumvention for non-infringing purposes such as fair dealing or uses permitted by educational and library exceptions in the Copyright Act.