[A2k] IFRRO statement at WIPO on accessible reading materials for the blind in a trusted environment

[Pescod, Dan]

Dear all,

The World Blind Union is very concerned by the idea that discussions should=
 replace work on a treaty.

We strongly believe it is important to engage with rights holders and publi=
shers. If we lived in an ideal world, publishers would publish in accessibl=
e formats in the first place, and we would not need to come to WIPO and wor=
k on a treaty. However, at best only 5% of works are published in accessibl=
e formats - a figure that has not improved in the last few years despite ou=
r efforts to raise awareness of the problem.

We believe that both work on the treaty and work with rights holders should=
 proceed in parallel. Work on one does not negate the need for work on anot=
her. We have already been meeting with IPA and others to explore ways that =
we can organise a good "trusted intermediary solution". We will be pursuing=
 this in January next year.

To quote George Gerscher on this list (I trust George will waive his copyri=
ght!):

"Why would the two activities be mutually exclusive? I mean the WBU copyrig=
ht exception should be the fallback when the materials are not available th=
rough the publisher's accessible publishing strategies."

We agree. And surely a clear international exceptions r=E9gime would underp=
in, not undermine, a move to create a really top class accessible global li=
brary.

In the USA Bookshare works with publishers to get agreement to export works=
 abroad. But it has only got this agreement for a small amount of its total=
 collection. If our proposed treaty had already been in place, print disabl=
ed people outside the USA would have been able to access ALL Bookshare's li=
brary NOW, rather than still be waiting. Don't forget, most of Bookshare's =
collection is made under US Copyright exceptions. We want to extend this mo=
del, which works, to the whole world.

Stopping work on the treaty now would cause many years more delay. Print di=
sabled kids's education would unnecessarily suffer, as would disabled peopl=
e's access to culture, information and enjoyment that the rest of us enjoy =
and can take for granted. This would run counter to the UN Convention on th=
e Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which all group B countries have sig=
ned.

If group B really means business when it says it wants to help print disabl=
ed people to access books, we believe it must therefore support work on the=
 treaty. We would be happy to work with all countries on the detail of the =
treaty text, and accept that they will need time to consider it carefully. =
We are more than happy to also work with rights holders, the European Commi=
ssion and others, on solutions to help end the "book famine" in tandem with=
 work on the treaty.

We therefore urge Jukka Liedes and his group B colleagues to recommend ther=
efore that the treaty be on the next SCCR agenda as a substantive item.

Dan Pescod


-----Original Message-----
From: a2k-admin@lists.essential.org [mailto:a2k-admin@lists.essential.org] =
On Behalf Of James Love
Sent: 06 November 2008 10:15
To: a2k
Cc: Liedes Jukka
Subject: [A2k] IFRRO statement at WIPO on accessible reading materials for =
the blind in a trusted environment

This morning at the WIPO SCCR 17, the International Federation of
Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO) has passed out a statement on
the promotion of accessible reading materials for the blind in a trusted
environment.

The European Commission has pushed this hard in their morning
intervention.

Basically, IFRRO is seeking to stop consideration of the WBU proposal
for a treaty.  They want to WIPO to "launch a platform of stakeholder
consultations to develop a roadmap for ensuring access for the blind and
visually impaired."

The roadmap would include "a set of best practice guidelines and/or a
sample agreement in order to facilitate the greater availability of
accessible reading materials for the blind and visually impaired in a
trusted and secure environment."

This appears to be the form of the resistance of the treaty proposal.
The collection societies and book publishers would be in a position to
dictate the terms of the distribution of works in developing countries,
to address remuneration issues, and to avoid dealing with harmonization
of limitations and exceptions.  At the same time, the Group B countries
backing this will claim they are helping blind and other reading
disabled persons.

Today Jukka Liedes, the SCCR chair for life, will be drafting some
tenative recommendations on how to proceed on the SCCR work program on
L&E, for distribution tomorrow morning.

Jamie

--
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

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