[bksvol-discuss] Re: FW: Treaty for Blind people will allow access to more books! If USA ...
- From: Cindy Rosenthal <grandcyn77@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:42:56 -0800
Interesting. I wonder what the U.S. objection is. They seeme to be
pretty cooperative with bookshare.
On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 12:46 PM, Kim Friedman <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Don't know if this is the second time you're getting this, but I hope
> for international accessibility. Regards, Kim Friedman.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Dicey [mailto:adicey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 7:54 AM
> To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
> Subject: Treaty for Blind people will allow access to more books! If USA
> ...
>
>
> European Blind Union Press release
> Paris, November 26, 2012
> WIPO Negotiations Treaty for Blind people
> Talks in the balance: EU backs treaty leaving USA isolated Geneva,
> 25.11.2012 - A four year UN negotiation on a new World Intellectual
> Property Organization (WIPO) treaty for people who are blind or have
> other
> print disabilities hangs in the balance. Will the world seize the
> opportunity to make it legal for blind people to share books across
> borders?
>
> WBU delegates attended the negotiations which took place between 19 and
> 23
> November in Geneva.
> WBU said that negotiators from all parts of the world worked hard on the
>
> treaty in SCCR25 and they welcomed this. WBU delegates were also cheered
> by
> the EU declaration on the first day of the session that it is now
> willing to
> back a binding treaty. The EU had vehemently opposed a treaty not long
> ago,
> so this is a very significant result of the advocacy of users and the
> European Parliament on this matter.
>
> Dan Pescod, who leads WBU's European campaign for the treaty, explained:
> "We have campaigned for years with hundreds of members of the European
> Parliament to get EU backing for a treaty. This is a significant and
> welcome
> step forward, but the EU needs now to ensure it supports the human
> rights of
> blind people to access information. It should do this by negotiating a
> simple and workable treaty."
>
> The USA delegation still has not pronounced the word "treaty" at these
> negotiations. It is now the only major negotiator not to do so. WBU
> pointed out this fact on the last day of the meeting in their closing
> remarks. Maryanne Diamond, leader of the WBU delegation, commented: "I
> had to point out the omission of the word "treaty" from the warm words
> of
> the US head of delegation. The USA has had time decide its position on a
>
> treaty- it is now high time it made its support clear".
>
> With the WIPO "Extraordinary General Assembly" in three week's time
> tasked
> with agreeing the nature of the new law (treaty or non-binding soft
> law),
> the nature of that law is a pressing concern for disability activists.
> Historically, WIPO only deals in treaties to protect publishers' rights.
> WBU
> is urging negotiators to afford them the same level of protection for
> the
> human rights of blind people.
>
> Some negotiators, including a few EU member states, still seem to be
> pushing
> issues which deal more with rights holder concerns than those of the
> blind
> and print disabled people this treaty is supposed to serve.
>
>
> Rahul Cherian, from Indian WBU member Inclusive Planet, said: "The
> objective of this treaty must be that of helping blind and print
> disabled people to get accessible format books, especially in developing
>
> countries. To achieve this goal, it must be workable, simply worded and
> effective for blind and print disabled people and their organizations to
>
> use. The heart of the treaty is cross-border sharing of works. We will
> push
> hard to ensure that the provisions on this matter are clear and simple."
>
> Chris Friend, head of WBU's Right to Read campaign, added:
> "We need those provisions to clearly permit cross-border sharing of
> accessible books both between organisations and directly from
> organisations
> to blind or print disabled individuals. We reject complicated
> requirements
> for checks on whether the books are commercially available. Such
> procedures
> would sacrifice the usability of the treaty on the altar of publisher
> reassurance."
> Friend further commented:
> "We are hopeful that the negotiations will still lead to a binding and
> useful treaty in 2013. The goodwill exists to get the job done. The
> momentum
> of the recent negotiations must not be lost."
>
> Background
>
> An end to the "book famine"
>
> Even in 2012, blind people and others living with a print disability
> such as
> those with dyslexia still have very limited access to books. Only some
> 7% of
> published books are ever made accessible (in formats such as Braille,
> audio
> and large print) in the richest countries, and less than 1% in poorer
> ones.
> This is a "book famine".
>
> An international treaty for blind people
> The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) makes treaties and
> other
> international laws on copyright
> Back in 2009 the World Blind Union, Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay
> proposed a
> WIPO treaty to help relieve the book famine in which fewer than 1% of
> books
> are published accessibly in developing countries, and only some 7% in
> the
> most developed.
>
> Briefly, the new treaty would:
> Allow specialist organizations to make accessible copies of books in all
>
> signatory countries
> Make it legal to send accessible books across national borders Still
> respect copyright law: it is not an attack on publishers! Make more
> books available for blind people About WBU
>
> The World Blind Union (WBU) is the internationally recognized
> organization,
> representing the 285 million blind and partially sighted persons in 190
> member countries. We are the Voice of the Blind, speaking to
> governments
> and international bodies on issues concerning blindness and visual
> impairments in conjunction with our members. For further information,
> please
> visit:
>
> www.worldblindunion.org
>
> Contacts
>
> Chris Friend, Chair, WBU right to read campaign cfriend@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> +44 7919 552 170
>
> Dan Pescod, Vice Chair, WBU right to read campaign
> Dan.pescod@xxxxxxxxxxx
> +44 207 391 2009
>
> _______________________________________________
> With Best Regards,
> Alan Dicey
> Miami, Florida
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