It collects revenues from licensed Canadian businesses, government, schools, libraries, and other copyright users for the photocopying of print works and distributes those monies to the rightsholders, such as publishers and authors from Canada and around the world.
Access Copyright covers works published in Australia, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
When universities sign on to a licence with Access Copyright (negotiated by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) or the Association of Canadian Community Colleges), their professors and students are given permission to do certain copying of copyrighted works.
The old agreement, which expired in 2010, charged only $3.38 plus an additional 10 cents per page coursepacks, photocopied compilations of readings designed by instructors and sold to students.
[26] In late 2019, Access Copyright obtained a court order requiring 300 schools across Canada to supply handouts and lesson plans from the last seven years.