University of Alberta students may be hitting the books this fall at a slightly higher cost.

The university is one of 15 across the country opting out of a deal with Access Copyright that entitled schools to copyrighted content, often passed on to students in “course packs” in lieu of textbooks.

But the proposed increase to a fee charged per student for getting the OK to reprint up to $45, versus a $3.40-a-head, plus 10 cents a copy, was too high, said Ernie Ingles, U of A library vice-provost, who oversees the university’s copyright office.

“It works out to two to three times what we would have been paying,” said Ingles.

The university plans to continue getting permission for copyrighted materials on its own, and Ingles said additional staff have been added.

But Roanie Levy, general counsel for Access Copyright, said the change means universities have to clear content access with each textbook owner individually.

“It would be a very long, tedious process, and would probably be far more costly,” said Levy.

Students’ union vice-president, academic, Emerson Csorba said he worries on two fronts about the change: The cost for student learning, and loss of revenue for union run-SUB Print, which prints course packs for faculty at the U of A.        

With files from Jeremy Nolais