[A2k] Some older WIPO discussions of the access for blind, visually impaired and disabled populations

[James Love]

During the current SCCR 17 discussions on copyright limitations and
exceptions, some delegates are unfamiliar with the longstanding efforts
to engage WIPO delegates in this issue.  Here are some rough notes of
*some* of the times when this issue has been discussed at WIPO. Jamie


Seventh Session SCCR
Geneva, May 13 to 17, 2002
REPORT
143.=09The representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) welcomed the
consideration of other issues by the SCCR.  The topic of fair use in
copyright and related rights deserved special attention.  Consumers such
as libraries, schools and disabled persons, such as the
visually-impaired, had an equally valid interest in having access to
protected material.  He reminded the Committee that some national
legislation in developing countries did not include exceptions to
copyright and related rights to facilitate blind people=E2=80=99s access to
work.  He asked WIPO to include that aspect in its legislative advice to
developing countries.  Also, material in electronic form could easily be
transferred between different countries, but that was not possible for
legal reasons.  That meant unnecessary duplication of work.  Another
issue was the application of technological measures of protection that
hindered the digital modification of content to make it accessible for
disabled persons.  He asked for WIPO=E2=80=99s support in studying these
issues.

2003 WIPO Press Release:
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2003/wipo_pr_2003_366.html
MEETING FOCUSES ON ACCESS TO DIGITAL CONTENT BY VISUALLY IMPAIRED
"A meeting held at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
in Geneva on November 3, 2003 focused on how the visually impaired can
access copyrighted materials in the on-line world in a
legally-acceptable way. The meeting reviewed the current situation
regarding the provision of copyrighted works to visually impaired
people, and considered the technical, economic and legal aspects of
ensuring access by the blind and partially sighted to written works in
the on-line environment. The meeting on digital content for the visually
impaired took place in conjunction with WIPO Standing Committee on
Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), meeting in Geneva from November 3
to 5, 2003.

http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/meetings/2003/digvi_im/pdf/digvi_im_03_man=
n.pdf
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights
INFORMATION MEETING ON DIGITAL CONTENT FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
3 November, 2003
Presentation by the World Blind Union (WBU)
"Thus, WBU also calls for the creation of international agreements which
would allow the unhindered transfer of accessible material created in
one country to blind and partially sighted people in another country.
Bilateral
or multi-lateral agreements may be the first step. The dream is an
international accord backed by WIPO and all its members."

http://www3.wcl.american.edu/cni/0311/34951.html
WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).
November 3-4, 2003.  Our notes from that meeting:
"The day began with an informational session on the problems facing the
blind, and in particular, the proposals by organizations for the
visually impaired to have global exceptions to copyrights in order to
reverse engineer work, and create products such as Braille, large type,
or audio performances of works, and to have the ability to export such
works across borders, including via the Internet.   The publishers
opposed these efforts."


STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Twelfth Session
Geneva, November 17 to 19, 2004
REPORT
The Delegation of Chile referred to its proposal in document SCCR/12/3
and pointed out that . . .  As to handicapped people, such as those
suffering from visual, aural or intellectual impairments, the lack or
shortage of information material in appropriate formats for those
persons could hamper the exercise of essential rights of access to
culture and education. Finally, as regards distance education, little
national legislation contained exceptions concerning distance
educational activities with the use of digital means, including digital
networks.  . . . The Delegation referred to the studies, documents and
activities prepared and organized by the International Bureau in 2002
and 2003, particularly the WIPO Study on Limitations and Exceptions of
Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Environment, prepared by
Professor Sam Ricketson, and the Information Meeting on Digital Content
for the Visually Impaired, which took place on November 3, 2003.  . . It
also referred to document SCCR/8/2, a Short Description of Possible
Subjects for Future Review by the Standing Committee, where the issue of
limitations and exceptions had been expressly included. However, the
Delegation considered that it was necessary to go further and to
prioritize the work of the SCCR to open a space to discuss limitations
and exceptions specifically for the aforesaid beneficiaries, with a view
to facilitating understanding on that issue and in order to learn from
successful examples at national level in order to make progress towards
achieving consensus on minimum international standards.

The Delegation of Egypt welcomed the proposal made the Delegation of
Chile and stated that the discussion on copyright exceptions for the
three categories of beneficiaries mentioned in it was of great
importance. It recalled that during the Information Meeting on Digital
Content for the Visually Impaired in November 2003 some proposals
regarding exceptions for visually impaired had been put forward.

The representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) stated the proposal by
the Delegation of Chile was motivated by a concern to ensure fairness.
All delegations believed that authors and creative industries should be
protected, but restrictive copyright laws could hamper the development
of culture and education and could work against the interests of the
society. He commended the number of WIPO initiatives that supported the
aspirations of blind and partially sighted people in the field of
copyright, already mentioned by preceding delegates, including the new
model provision for the visually impaired in the WIPO Draft Copyright
Law, the preparation of a study that targeted the issue of digital
rights management and the needs of the visually impaired and distance
education, and a study on national exceptions for the visually impaired.
He believed that the issue of copyright exceptions for the visually
impaired along with other issues proposed would benefit from greater
momentum and priority within the SCCR deliberations in a very proactive
rather than reactive way. A level of harmonization on the above legal
exceptions needed to be achieved, in order to facilitate international
transfer of copyrighted material that had been modified in order to be
accessible by the visually impaired. Such harmonization would be of
great benefit to developing countries, whose content production
sometimes was relatively small. Finally, he stated that there were many
alternative ways that the issues proposed could be tackled. Some of
those would be that WIPO provided technical advice or organized training
sessions on the matter, among others.


http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/a2k/2005-June/000473.html
21 June 2005
The World Blind Union made a general statement during the 2nd WIPO
intersessional on 21st June.

We had also hoped to comment on specific proposals during the course of
the final day, but were not called before the lunch break and had to
leave before the meeting resumed in the afternoon.

In both cases we were using notes rather than a script, but pasted below
is a summary of what we said and what we would have said.

This has also been sent to the WIPO secretariat in the forlorn hope that
the Chair might read it!

WIPO Intersessional Meeting on Development Agenda.

Statements by the World Blind Union.

1. Paraphrase of submission made to Intersessional Meeting on 21st June
2005, by David Mann, world Blind Union.

There are an estimated 180 million blind and partially sighted people in
the World.  Much of this sight loss is preventable, and affordable
medicines would contribute to prevention.  Prevention would not only
benefit the individuals but support the economic development of the
countries in which they live.

We are very disappointed that there is so little reference to disabled
people in most of the papers submitted to the Intersessional Meeting.
Disabled people must be included in WIPO's Development Agenda.

Blind and partially sighted people will contribute to economic
development if educated and if employed.  Copyright restrictions without
appropriate and adequate exceptions hinder the development of the
individual and the country in which s/he lives.  Lack of agreements on
the international transfer of material modified for access by blind and
partially sighted people also hinders the economic development of both
individual and society.  Poorly designed or poorly applied technological
protection measures impede access by those having to use assistive
technology, and so also hinder the development of both individual and
society.

The papers submitted by distinguished delegations contain many proposals
for research or other studies.  These will be worthwhile only if WIPO
and its members are prepared to act on their findings and
recommendations.


http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/html.jsp?url=3Dhttp://www.wipo.int/edocs/md=
ocs/copyright/en/sccr_13/sccr_13_6.doc
STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Thirteenth Session
Geneva, November 21 to 23, 2005
REPORT
The representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) said that the blind,
partly sighted and other disabled people experienced widespread social
exclusion. One cause was the acute shortage of accessible books and
other published material, which was attributable to legal, economic and
technological problems, including the territorial nature of copyright
exceptions. The latter meant that an exception covered acts only in the
country in which it had been enacted. Some examples in that respect had
been given at the Information Meeting on education and copyright that
had taken place that same day in the morning. WBU called on WIPO to
initiate a survey which would, first examine the perceived and real
barriers to transfer of accessible material between jurisdictions,
second draw authoritative conclusions and, finally, make recommendations
on any needs for changes to national laws or international treaties.
That initiative fitted well with the WIPO current focus on development
issues and the SCCR=E2=80=99s heightened interest in copyright exceptions.
International treaties had long tolerated copyright exceptions for the
benefit of blind, partly sighted and other disabled people though many
countries had yet to enact such exceptions. Over and above this,
however, it was vital that material rendered accessible in one
jurisdiction was also available in others. If not, there would be little
prospect of eradicating the book famine experienced by so many visually
impaired people, especially but not exclusively in developing countries
where resources were very scarce. WIPO had recognized that problem by
including in its draft copyright law a recommendation to permit the
distribution within a country material created under copyright
exceptions in other countries. That version of the draft law was yet to
appear on WIPO website, but it was already actively in use in advising
developing countries. However, barriers persisted. Governments,
including some very powerful ones, asserted that nobody was authorized
to send material created under a copyright exception abroad unless this
was explicitly permitted in their own legislation. In other words, they
looked for exporting rather than importing rights. Such explicit
permission and the WIPO=E2=80=99s recommendations on imports had not been
adopted yet by member States. He warmly welcomed the support received in
recent years from SCCR delegates and the action already taken by the
WIPO Secretariat, and urged those delegates to express support for that
specific concrete proposal.


SCCR/14
May 1 to 5, 2006
AUTOMATED RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND COPYRIGHT LIMITATIONS AND
EXCEPTIONS
prepared by Nic Garnett for the World Intellectual SCCR/14/5

pages 25-34
quote: CHAPTER 3
THE TARGET FIELDS
A. Visually impaired people
1. The perspective of visually impaired people
It is estimated that there are some 180 million blind and
partially-sighted people in the world.
The World Blind Union (WBU) has adopted a manifesto21 regarding access
to the resources of the information society by visually impaired people.
The governing principle of that manifesto is as follows:
"The World Blind Union believes that in the information age access to
information is a human right that must be enjoyed by all as a
precondition for equal participation in society. This means that
socially and economically disadvantaged people in general should be
included and blind and partially sighted people in particular. The right
to access to information is explicitly recognised by the international
community in the UN standard rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities
for Persons with Disabilities."

SNIP
The WBU argues for the standardisation of exceptions and limitations to
meet the needs of visually impaired people as follows:
"We believe [the] exceptions should have the following features:
(a) They should achieve general acceptance and recognition of the
principle that creation of alternative format versions from lawfully
acquired originals on a non-profit basis with controlled distribution
does not constitute an infringement of copyright and therefore requires
no permission.
(b) They should enshrine rights rather than merely improving procedures
for permission.
(c) They should avoid restriction to particular formats or
technologies.31
It is debatable whether this approach would actually lead to an increase
in the amount of accessible content available unless some third party
with sufficient resources was prepared to take on the task of format
conversion. In any event, attempts to change existing law in this way
would more than likely be forcefully opposed by many content owners.
So what would the appropriate legal framework contain in this respect?
Hopefully, answers to the following:
=E2=80=93 What kind of exceptions or compulsory licence mechanisms can be
devised in relation to the rights of rightsholders that on the one hand
facilitate access to information by the visually impaired and on the
other hand enable rightsholders to exploit fully the markets for their
works?
=E2=80=93 What rights are implicated by the processes =E2=80=93 technologic=
al or
otherwise =E2=80=93 used in facilitating access?
=E2=80=93 Technological protection measures are now protected by both
international and national laws against circumvention. What are the most
efficient requirements, including derogations to that protection that
can be applied to supporting both the access needs of the visually
impaired and the market needs of the rightsholders? =E2=80=93 What are the =
best
ways of administering the solutions provided within the law?


STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Fifteenth Session
Geneva, September 11 to 13, 2006
STUDY ON COPYRIGHT LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
prepared by Judith Sullivan*
Consultant, Copyright and Government Affairs

6.6 Import and export of accessible copies made under exceptions
6.6.1 Does this issue need to be addressed?
The World Blind Union, DAISY Consortium and IFLA Libraries for the Blind
Section all argue that the ability to move accessible copies between
jurisdictions would allow the costs of making accessible copies to be
reduced. The effort and cost of making a master copy with appropriate
mark-up from which accessible copies can be made would not have to be
repeated in each country where that accessible copy is needed. This
would in turn enable the number of titles available in accessible
formats to be increased as the limited resources that can be devoted to
this activity would not be wasted in unnecessary, repetitive work. Right
holders are likely to be sympathetic to these arguments as they
understand the high costs of making accessible copies. Indeed, for
titles that are likely to be read by only a few visually impaired
people, the high cost is no doubt part of the reason why there are not
more commercially available accessible formats.

..........
The international framework
(b) International treaties and conventions relating to copyright provide
a framework that is complex and confusing for those drawing up
exceptions to rights for the benefit of visually impaired people, but
they do not oblige countries to make any provision. Further debate is
desirable on this issue in the long term.
(c) International agreements relevant to the rights of disabled people
may in any case require countries to take the needs of visually impaired
people into account when framing their copyright laws.
(d) WIPO could facilitate further discussion about copyright and the
rights of disabled people as well as developing its draft model law for
developing countries in the light of the recommendations in this Study.

Import and export of accessible copies made under exceptions
(k) International conventions do not seem to restrict what provision can
be made regarding export and import of accessible copies made under
exceptions to copyright. It is very complicated to decide what is
currently legal, particularly because the laws of at least two countries
need to be considered.
(l) More explicit provision in national laws might be appropriate
regarding export and import of accessible copies given the considerable
benefit this could bring to visually impaired people, but this could be
particularly complicated where countries do not provide international
exhaustion of rights. Any provision needs to take into account the needs
of right holders as well as any benefits for visually impaired people so
as not to deter collaboration to increase world stocks of accessible
formats in other ways too.


http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/html.jsp?url=3Dhttp://www.wipo.int/edocs/md=
ocs/copyright/en/sccr_16/sccr_16_3_prov.doc
STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHTAND RELATED RIGHTS
Sixteenth Session
Geneva, March 10 to 12, 2008
DRAFT REPORT

The Delegation of New Zealand referred to the Study on Copyright
Limitations and Exceptions for the Visually Impaired, which had been
submitted to the Fifteenth Session of the SCCR (document SCCR/15/7).
Generally, New Zealand could endorse the recommendations contained in
the study and encouraged further discussions on the topic. In
particular, the Delegation would like to highlight the issue of
international exchange of accessible formats. It was an important issue
for New Zealand as many accessible formats of useful materials were
published outside of the country. The most significant problems in New
Zealand related to vision-related services. The Royal New Zealand
Foundation of the Blind faced difficulties related to the import of
accessible format copies from organizations for the visually impaired in
other jurisdictions. That was due to the fact that territorial
limitations to copyright impact the international distribution of
material created under those exceptions. Further work needed to be done
to take stock of the often complex legislative situation with regard to
copyright exceptions. New Zealand saw particular value in exploring
alternatives to the exceptions, particularly in the short- and
medium-term, to facilitate the import and export of accessible copies,
such as looking at the role WIPO could play in facilitating arrangements
that might cover the international exchange of accessible formats as
reflected in the recommendation of the Study. . .

The Delegation of Chile thanked the delegations that had expressed
support for the joint proposal on exceptions and limitations and
responded to some of the questions raised by the Delegations of Egypt,
Australia and the United States of America. The proposal would not
affect in any of its phases and parts existing international treaties
already signed and agreed to by Member States. The expression minimum,
mandatory exceptions meant clarifications regarding limitations within
the scope allowed for in the existing international treaties. The
intention was that, for some specific areas such as the disabled people
and the educational community, some minimum elements should be selected
from the big amount of possibilities that were available to Member
States. The Delegation of the United States of America had made a good
point that it had not been provided with evidence on the need to work on
stimulating the creation of exceptions and limitations. However, the
reports made by WIPO with regard to the availability of works for the
blind provided some such evidence. Only around 60 countries in the whole
world had exceptions for the blind, and yet the possibility existed
under the treaties for having those exceptions. . .

A representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) emphasized the good
relationship with WIPO, the SCCR and the many delegations that had
championed the causes of visually-impaired people within the copyright
context. He referred to the case of a student in Sierra Leone who had
spent four years completing his masters degree because of the situation
he faced in trying to get accessible text books as a blind student.
There was no accessible format of Braille or audio available to him. He
had had to pay his own reader to read the text books because there were
no grants from the University or the Government. Moreover, his reader
could not read at the University library as it was a silent place. He
supported the statement made by the Delegation of New Zealand about the
difficulties of cross-border exchanges, and the recommendations of the
Sullivan report on exceptions for the visually impaired, particularly
recommendations G, K, L, and M. He referred to the campaign called =E2=80=
=9Cthe
Global Right to Read Campaign,=E2=80=9D to be launched next April 23, as pa=
rt of
the Amsterdam World Book Capital event, which brought together
stakeholders and governments. It would be an opportunity to persuade and
convince the latter to put in place appropriate exceptions which did not
currently exist in 120 countries. He added that publishers should be
provided with a full documentation and should be asked their opinion
about the implementation of the Sullivan recommendations. . .

A representative of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) . . . urged
WIPO to . . . focus on real problems. The World Blind Union had been
asking for several years, for example, to the SCCR to address their very
real problems in ensuring access to copyrighted works.

A representative of the Electronic Frontier Federation (EFF)
stated . . .  and limitations, a topic of great interest to many
developing and developed countries and of tremendous importance to the
visually impaired, libraries and education communities had had no
substantial discussion in the Committee since the issue had been
submitted by the Delegation of Chile in 2004. There was a high level of
urgency about the pressing problems faced by the visually disabled and
impaired community, libraries and on-line archives, teachers and
students who were trying to harness their potential in digital and cross
border education. Member States had now been presented with the choice
of alleviating sufferings to the world citizens and tackling the
greatest challenge facing the global copyright regime or to invigorate
discussions on a treaty that had been drafted to protect broadcasters=E2=80=
=99
and cablecasters=E2=80=99 investments and which would be causing considerab=
le
harm to consumers and innovation.

"Exceptions and limitations

=E2=80=9CThe basis for deliberations of the SCCR on this item was the propo=
sal
made in the present session by Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay,
which elaborates further the proposal by the Delegation of Chile
(SCCR/13/5). Many of the Delegations who took the floor supported the
proposal, emphasized the importance of it and expressed their
willingness to participate in the discussions on this issue. Several
Delegations underlined the need for speedy action to improve the access
of visually impaired persons to protected works.

* The Secretariat was requested to make, in addition to the existing
study reports, a study on exceptions and limitations for the benefit of
educational activities, including distance education and the
trans-border aspect in it.

* The Secretariat was requested to organize, in conjunction with the
next session of the SCCR, an informative session on existing and
forthcoming studies.

The Delegation of Slovenia, speaking on behalf of the European Community
and its member States, announced that it would propose three amendments
to the first paragraph in the chapter on exceptions and limitations, the
addition of a new paragraph, and a change in paragraph four. Paragraph 1
would read "Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay presented a proposal
which elaborates further the proposal by the Delegation of Chile
(document SCCR/13/5). Many of the delegations who took the floor
supported the proposal in whole, or in part. They emphasized the
importance of it and expressed their willingness to participate in the
discussion on this issue, and many delegations expressed their interest
to focus on an exchange of information on national and regional
legislation, and have requested to be given time to study the new
proposal. Several delegations underlined the need for speedy action to
improve the access of visually impaired persons to protected works".


--
James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International
http://www.keionline.org | mailto:james.love at keionline.org
Wk: +1.202.332.2671 | US Mobile +1.202.361.3040 | Geneva Mobile +41.76.413.=
6584