Graduate students at Laurier currently pay a base fee of $1.70/term ($5.10/year) to access copyrighted materials such as articles, journals, and photocopied excerpts. Students also currently pay an extra $0.10 per page for any coursepacks purchased.

A new copyright licensing model agreement with an outside service provider (Access Copyright) has been proposed to Canadian universities and colleges. This agreement proposes a 410% increase to the current fee (from $5.10 to $26.00 per student, per year).

Student associations across Canada, and the Canadian University Association of Teachers, view this new agreement as HARMFUL to campus academic communities.

This agreement:
- Imposes a $26 fee for students
- Forces administrations to undertake electronic surveillance of students and academic staff
- Requires payment for rights already granted under current copyright legislation

In essence, students will be paying additional funds for no greater access to copyrighted materials.

Negotiations with the Laurier administration have led to a modified proposal that is unfortunately still not in the best interests of graduate students. This modified proposal demands that we pay a 310% increase to the current base fee (from $5.10 to $20.90 per student, per year).

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