The Supreme Court of Canada has granted CMEC's application for leave in the Access Copyright K-12 tariff case. The summary order simply read:

GRANTED WITH COSTS

Province of Alberta as represented by the Minister of Education et al. v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency Operating as "Access Copyright" (F.C.) (Civil) (By Leave) (33888)

Coram: McLachlin / Abella / Cromwell

In its application for leave for review of the decision of the FCA in Alberta (Education) v Access Copyright, 2010 FCA 198, CMEC identified four issues for review the court should consider:

(a) Whose purpose is relevant in determining fair dealing: the copier’s purpose, the user’s purpose, or both?

(b) How is the amount of dealing to be looked at in determining fair dealing: per dealing, or in the aggregate?

(c) How is the direction that fair dealing not be interpreted restrictively in CCH to be applied to a teacher making copies for students in his or her class?

(d) What is the appropriate standard of review to use in interpreting the application of fair dealing to different categories of users?

In response, Access Copyright asked the court to deny the application, arguing that:

"because the Board's decision was essentially fact-based and raises no questions of law, the intervention of this court would not serve to advance  or clarify the law of fair dealing. In essence, the Applicants are asking this court to reassess the Board's factual conclusions, which is not the role of this Court" (Response to Motion for Leave, paragraph 34.)

It is likely that there will be subsequent applications for intervention from a number of interested parties on both sides of the dispute.  In the FCA, both the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT's Intervention Memo) and a group of publishers trade associations had intervened.