York University had an agreement with Access Copyright that allowed educational copying from its administered repertoire for royalties. As negotiations continued, an interim tariff was approved by the Copyright Board, but York stopped paying it in 2011. Access Copyright sought enforcement, and York raised fair dealing.
Could the collective copyright tariff be enforced against a university that had not chosen to be licensed under it, and could the Court decide fair dealing without the copyright owners pursuing an infringement claim?
The Court unanimously held that the collective tariff was voluntary for users, and it did not compel York to become a licensee. Collective administration can protect users by setting licence terms and maximum charges, but cannot convert an unaccepted licence into a mandatory payment obligation. Copyright infringement is a separate cause of action requiring the proper rights holders and specific uses. Access Copyright was not bringing such an infringement claim, so the Court refused to resolve York's fair dealing arguments in the abstract.
Both appeals were dismissed. The copyright tariff could not be enforced against York as a compulsory licence. The Court made no final determination about whether particular educational copying was fair dealing or infringement.