[A2k] The DAISY Planet: October 2008 "WIPO Treaty for Equitable Information Access WBU Proposal"

[Manon Ress]

http://www.daisy.org/news/newsletters/planet-2008-10.shtml

The DAISY Planet Newsletter

The Monthly Newsletter of the Digital Accessible Information SYstem
Consortium October 2008

WIPO Treaty for Equitable Information Access
World Blind Union Proposal

The WIPO Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and
other Reading Disabled Persons is a result of the collaborative
efforts of the DAISY Consortium, World Blind Union logo IFLA/LBS and
the World Blind Union and others who know that changes to
international copyright law are required to bring worldwide equitable
access to information. In April 2004 a tripartite agreement was signed
by these three organizations; the WBU, which has observer status with
WIPO, is presenting the treaty initiative on behalf of the group.

A worldwide meeting of international experts assisted in the
development of the draft WIPO copyright treaty at a meeting called by
the WBU and KEI (Knowledge Ecology International). The report of the
experts meeting which was held in Washington, DC in July provides both
background on the process and substance of the treaty proposal.

The purpose of this international and strategically important proposed
treaty is "to provide the necessary minimum flexibilities in copyright
laws that are needed to ensure full and equal access to information
and communication for persons who are visually impaired or otherwise
disabled in terms of reading copyrighted works, focusing in particular
on measures that are needed to publish and distribute works in formats
that are accessible for persons who are blind, have low vision, or
have other disabilities in reading text, in order to support their
full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with
others, and to ensure the opportunity to develop and utilize their
creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own
benefit, but also for the enrichment of society."

The two main features of the proposed treaty are:

    1. to provide a minimum standard for limitations and exceptions
for the blind and visually impaired
    2. to allow and encourage the import and export of works in
accessible formats

The WIPO Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and
other Reading Disabled Persons is on the Knowledge Ecology
International (KEI) website in English, French and Spanish in HTML,
PDF, DOC and ODF formats. DAISY 2.02 and DAISY 3 formats of the
English version of the treaty are available for download from the
DAISY website.

Many of you will have received the message from the DAISY Consortium
sent October 22nd announcing the treaty and requesting that "all of
you contact your country's representative who will be attending the
WIPO Standing Committee meeting and advocate in favor of this draft
treaty". The proposed treaty will be presented at the WIPO Standing
Committee on Copyright and Related Rights - Seventeenth Session, which
will be held November 3 - 7 in Geneva; this treaty is the first
substantive item on the agenda. The WIPO Standing Committee agenda is
available on the WIPO website in English, French and Spanish.

In his letter to WIPO delegates regarding the proposed treaty, Chris
Friend, Chair of the WBU Copyright and Right to Read Working Group,
wrote: "The WBU seeks to greatly expand access to works through a
global platform for distributing accessible works. This requires
creating a harmonized global minimum standard for copyright
limitations and exceptions for blind, visually impaired and reading
disabled persons that allows exports and imports of works in
accessible formats to qualified persons." A link to the complete text
of Chris Friend's letter and links to other relevant and important
documents are also available on the KEI website.

Greater harmonization in copyright limitations and exceptions is
required in order to create a global platform for making published
content available to the persons unable to read standard print or
electronic publications. If you have not already sent an email letter
to the department or minister in your country who will represent your
government in the SCCR/WIPO meeting in support of the proposed treaty,
please do so today. Contact information can be found with the
department of foreign affairs and education for most countries. If you
are unable to locate the name of the representative in your country,
the names of the SCCR representatives who attended the last meeting
are provided on the KEI website. This is your opportunity to make a
difference for everyone everywhere who requires information in an
accessible format.



***************************************************************************
Manon Ress
manon.ress@keionline.org
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.:  +1.202.332.2670, Fax: +1.202.332.2673