Canadian university and college campuses are quiet at this time of year, but in recent weeks many have been making noise by transforming the way professors and students access and license course materials. For years, schools paid an annual per student fee to Access Copyright, a copyright collective that licenses photocopying and the creation of print coursepacks. Starting in September, many of Canada’s top universities will no longer use the Access Copyright licence, opting instead for a more flexible, tech savvy alternative. The latest to announce that it is opting out is York University, which sent a notice to faculty yesterday.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes the shift away from Access Copyright marks the culmination of years of technological change within Canadian education that has resulted in new ways for professors to disseminate research and educational materials as well as greater reliance by students on the Internet, electronic materials, and portable computers.

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