What are the implications if York loses?

In July of 2017, many people in education were dismayed to learn that Access Copyright had won its lawsuit against York University. Yes, York has appealed and yes, both sides have the option to appeal one further time after the current appeal to the Supreme Court. But York’s loss has shaken faith in the fair dealing defence used so effectively in CCH and Alberta v. Access Copyright.What are the implications if York loses? Access Copyright would like a York loss to condemn all of the fair dealing policies developed by both post-secondary and K-12 education forcing education back into the tariff process. Does aYork loss condemn all of education to fair dealing overreach? Or does York have specific problems that do not broadly extend to other educational institutions? What would a final York loss mean to educational institutions across the rest of Canada? We will look at the current York decision and try to read the tea leaves for what might come next.Robert Tiessen is a Content Development Librarian within the University of Calgary Libraries & Cultural Resources. He has worked at the University of Calgary Library in various roles since 1999 after moving back to Canada from working as a librarian in Montana and Ohio. His interest was sparked in copyright after wondering why the copyright rules were so different between Canada and the US. He is a member of the CFLA Copyright Committee.