As far as I am aware, the most major impact of this decision will be the abolition of the "nickel copiers", which allow for the copying of a certain percentage (10%, I think?) of any copyrighted work if you are a UCalgary student. I am uncertain of how the restrictions applied to professors & faculty.
I personally doubt that this will have much of an impact on my own career at University. I am not enrolled in a program that makes heavy use of such copyrighted materials, and thus far my use of said copyrighted material has been limited.
I think Access Copyright had it coming. For a very, very long time.
Access Copyright receives a fee from large institutions (educational, government) in order to provide licensing rights to protected content and ensure copyright holders are compensated.
Late last year, institutions started to receive word of a substantial increase in the Access Copyright fees for the upcoming year. Access Copyright claims that they are about to make a lot more material available to these institutions, so the cost is justified.
In response, the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada (AUCC) issued a fair dealing policy of their own (http://copyright.info.yorku.ca/fair-dealing-guidelines/) that membership institutions could choose to adopt that allows them to manage their own copyright processes no longer requiring the Access Copyright license and associated fees.
I actually graduated from the U of C! I think this is a great stand to take. I know a lot of Professors had been posting things online as a workaround (which obviously has been the blight of AC) and I always greatly appreciated this as it cut down on textbook fees. The really great professors were using free material to teach in their lecture halls (I don't know what that says about the education I was given but meh, free != crap).
The one thing I don't like about this stand is that by going directly to the source and cutting out the middle man the University is giving tremendous power to it's professors. I think there will be a lot more professor-authors doing the lecturing circuit. Don't get me wrong sometimes it's wonderful to have such a great resource, but from my experience most of the professors who plugged their own works were just self-serving and thought of this "workaround" as a way to make them richer rather than our level of education.
Related to that, you might want to check out this lawsuit against the Law Society of Upper Canada (they're like the state bar associations) for their photocopying service.
30.3 (1) An educational institution or a library, archive or museum does not infringe copyright where
(a) a copy of a work is made using a machine for the making, by reprographic reproduction, of copies of works in printed form;
(b) the machine is installed by or with the approval of the educational institution, library, archive or museum on its premises for use by students, instructors or staff at the educational institution or by persons using the library, archive or museum; and
(c) there is affixed in the prescribed manner and location a notice warning of infringement of copyright.
Application
(2) Subsection (1) only applies if, in respect of a reprographic reproduction,
(a) the educational institution, library, archive or museum has entered into an agreement with a collective society that is authorized by copyright owners to grant licences on their behalf;
(b) the Board has, in accordance with section 70.2, fixed the royalties and related terms and conditions in respect of a licence;
(c) a tariff has been approved in accordance with section 70.15; or
(d) a collective society has filed a proposed tariff in accordance with section 70.13.
Order
(3) Where a collective society offers to negotiate or has begun to negotiate an agreement referred to in paragraph (2)(a), the Board may, at the request of either party, order that the educational institution, library, archive or museum be treated as an institution to which subsection (1) applies, during the period specified in the order.
Agreement with copyright owner
(4) Where an educational institution, library, archive or museum has entered into an agreement with a copyright owner other than a collective society respecting reprographic reproduction, subsection (1) applies only in respect of the works of the copyright owner that are covered by the agreement.
Regulations
(5) The Governor in Council may, for the purposes of paragraph 1(c), prescribe by regulation the manner of affixing and location of notices and the dimensions, form and contents of notices."
