Marrakesh Treaty Brings Treaty into Force
Geneva, June 30, 2016
PR/2016/792
Canada today became the key 20th
nation to accede to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access
to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise
Print Disabled, which will bring the Treaty into force in three
month’s time on September 30, 2016.
“This is great news for people with visual
impairments. and for the multilateral intellectual property system. The
Marrakesh Treaty will, when widely adopted throughout the world, create the framework
for persons who are blind and visually impaired to enjoy access to literacy in
a much more equal and inclusive way,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
“I urge as many countries as possible to ratify the Treaty so that its benefits
can be widely enjoyed throughout the world,” he added.
“I am honored that Canada is counted among
the countries that together are enabling the coming into force of the Marrakesh
Treaty internationally. Together, we are creating a more accessible world for
people living with disabilities,” said Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science
and Economic Development Navdeep Bains. “The coming into force of the Treaty
will mark the last step of a long journey toward a more inclusive global
community, where print-disabled and visually impaired people can more fully and
actively participate in society and reach their full potential,” he added.
"Today is an historic day for Canada, as
we become the 20th country to accede to the Marrakesh Treaty, which
thus brings the Treaty into force. I am proud that our government is standing
up for Canadians with disabilities and providing those with print disabilities
more equitable access to alternative-format published materials,” said Canada’s
Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities Carla Qualtrough. She added “As
the coming into force of this treaty becomes a reality, Canadians will benefit
from greater accessibility and opportunities in their communities and
workplaces."
Canada’s accession was preceded a day earlier
by Ecuador and Guatemala. Mr. Gurry paid tribute to countries in the
Latin American region, who make up half of the contracting parties so far.
India was the very first country to ratify on
June 30, 2014. “India is pleased that the 20 ratifications have been achieved
to allow entry into force of the Marrakesh Treaty,” said Ambassador Ajit Kumar,
India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International
Organizations in Geneva. Expressing hope that more countries would join very
soon, he added “We will now begin to see tangible benefits to the world’s blind
and visually impaired communities.”
More than 75 WIPO member states have signed
the Treaty, which was adopted on June 27, 2013 at a diplomatic conference
organized by WIPO and hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco in Marrakesh. For the
Treaty to enter into force, twenty ratifications or accessions are required.
The first 20 countries to ratify or accede
were: India, El Salvador, United Arab Emirates, Mali, Uruguay, Paraguay,
Singapore, Argentina, Mexico, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Australia, Brazil,
Peru, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Israel, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala
and Canada.
June 30, 2016 also marks the second
anniversary of the Accessible Books Consortium
(ABC), which was created to help implement the objectives of the Marrakesh
Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind,
Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled at a practical level through work
in three areas: the sharing of technical skills in developing and least
developed countries to produce and distribute books in accessible formats,
promoting inclusive publishing, and building an international database and book
exchange of accessible books.
Marrakesh Treaty – Ending the “book famine”
The Marrakesh Treaty addresses the “book
famine” by requiring its contracting parties to adopt national law provisions
that permit the reproduction, distribution and making available of published
works in accessible formats – such as Braille - through limitations and
exceptions to the rights of copyright rightholders.
It also provides for the exchange of these
accessible format works across borders by organizations that serve the people
who are blind, visually impaired, and print disabled. It will harmonize
limitations and exceptions so that these organizations can operate across
borders.
This sharing of works in accessible formats
should increase the overall number of works available because it will eliminate
duplication and increase efficiency. For example, instead of five countries
producing accessible versions of the same work, the five countries will each be
able to produce an accessible version of a different work, which can then be
shared with each of the other countries.
The Treaty is also designed to provide
assurances to authors and publishers that that system will not expose their
published works to misuse or distribution to anyone other than the intended
beneficiaries. The Treaty reiterates the requirement that the cross-border
sharing of works created based on limitations and exceptions must be limited to
certain special cases which do not conflict with the normal exploitation of the
work and do not unreasonable prejudice the legitimate interests of the
rightholder.
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
Best
Paper Award | Received the Best Paper Award at TIFR-BOSLA National Conference on
Future Librarianship: Innovation for Excellence (NCFL 2016) on April 23,
2016. The title of the paper is “Removing
Barriers to Literacy: Marrakesh VIP Treaty”
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