Update on the WBU/ EBU suspension of involvement in the WIPO "Stakeholder Platform" and the EU “Stakeholder Dialogue”
The World Blind Union and European Blind Union suspended their involvement in the two above-mentioned initiatives back in February 2011. Please see our communication here of February 26th on this matter: http://www.worldblindunion.org/en/our-work/campaigns/Pages/default.aspx
In our communication, we made it clear that the suspension would remain in place until agreement had been reached at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on a new law to remove the copyright barriers that blind, partially sighted and other print disabled people face when trying to access copyrighted works.
WBU/ EBU are actively participating in the WIPO Copyright Committee (SCCR) discussions to help achieve such an agreement. We also review our suspension in the light of progress in each SCCR meeting.
Regrettably, no agreement was reached in November at the latest WIPO SCCR.WBU /EBU's suspension of our participation in the WIPO Stakeholder Platform and EU Stakeholder Dialogue therefore remains in place.
We look hopefully to the July 2012 SCCR meeting where it is quite possible for member states to agree a useful, effective and binding WIPO treaty for blind and print disabled people. Should such an outcome be achieved in July, WBU/ EBU would be keen to request our renewed participation in the WIPO SP and EU SD.
WIPO Treaty
Between 21st November and 2nd December, in Geneva, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, (WIPO), held its copyright negotiating committee meeting, the "SCCR".
The first week about 15 delegates attended for WBU, during which the Committee dedicated two days to discussing the question of a new law to improve access for blind and other reading disabled people.
Despite all our efforts, WBU feels that this meeting regressed on the matter of achieving a treaty for blind and other print disabled people.
At the previous SCCR meeting in June we were pleased that member states from various parts of the world, including the EU, had been able to draft a single text from the four competing proposals for a law which the Committee had examined previously. (Known as the "Chair's text").
This latest November /December SCCR meeting saw many amendments to the "Chair's text", which seem to take the Committee further from agreement on the text of a new law than it appeared to be in June 2011.
WBU was particularly dismayed by the unhelpful amendments on the "Chair's text" that the EU negotiators submitted. For instance, the EU wants to remove the right for our organisations to use the new law without rights holder authorisation. Such an amendment would render the new law almost pointless. The EU also sought to limit the number and range of organisations that might be able to use the new law to those whose "primary" mission was to provide accessible books to print disabled people. Such an amendment would see many public libraries, schools and universities unable to benefit from the new law.
Nonetheless, the conclusions of the SCCR point to finalising the text at the next meeting - SCCR24, which will take place in July 2012. They also anticipate agreement on the type of law this text will become - soft law guidelines or a legally binding treaty.
We first formally tabled our treaty proposal in May 2009- two and a half years ago. This is not such a long time for what is after all a negotiation on a UN treaty, and a ground-breaking one at that. However, our patience is not endless, and we need to get concrete results in 2012. With continued hard work this should be achievable.
The big question, not just for WBU but also blind people wanting accessible books across the world, is "Will the EU negotiators work constructively and urgently with other Member States to agree a useful, effective and binding treaty in 2012?"
The Parliament aside, the EU's record on this matter so far is not encouraging. But as we head towards Christmas, perhaps EU negotiators can find inspiration in the novel "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. So far, the EU has played the role of a pre-Christmas, miserly, "Scrooge" at the WIPO negotiations.They have given little away and made us work hard for every small concession.
But Scrooge eventually realised that things could be so much better if he showed some goodwill towards others in need of his help.
WBU urges the European Commission and Council of Ministers to also find some goodwill this Christmas for blind, partially sighted and other print disabled people. Come on Commissioner Barnier and EU Member States! Please come back reformed and ready to be constructive in 2012.Work with us to make 2012 the year of the WIPO treaty for blind and print disabled people.
Will the EU and USA join the rest of the world and finally agree a binding book treaty for blind people this November?
Visitors to this site will know that the World Blind Union has campaigned for some years now at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, WIPO, for the removal of copyright barriers which prevent blind, partially sighted, dyslexic and other “reading disabled” people from accessing books.
This is vital because reading disabled people face a “book famine” in which some 95% of books published in rich countries and 99% in poorer countries are never converted into accessible formats such as audio, large print or braille.
Currently, outdated copyright law means that in two thirds of the world’s countries, organisations working to provide accessible books cannot do so unless publishers give them permission. Such authorisation is often slow in coming or does not come at all.
In view of these difficulties and the legitimate need to ensure that blind people can access books that publishers have not published in accessible formats, countries with a more enlightened copyright policy have implemented exceptions to their national copyright law. These allow blind people and organisations working on their behalf to legally make their own accessible copies of books, even where publishers have not given their express authorisation.
However, even in those countries which have a “copyright exception”, copyright law does not allow an accessible book or digital book file to be made available in another country with the same language. This means that, for example, a blind person’s organisation in the UK cannot benefit from tens of thousands of books in English made accessible thanks to the USA’s copyright exception. It means that Spanish blind organisation ONCE cannot share its collection of over a hundred thousand accessible books with the many Latin American countries that speak Spanish yet have few accessible books themselves. Using even current infrastructure and systems, these books could travel between these countries tomorrow if copyright law allowed it.
The WIPO copyright negotiating committee, “SCCR”, meets from 21st November to 2nd December 2011. It will examine a draft of a law for access to books for reading disabled people, which could end the legal problems outlined above. A group of eleven countries from different continents put the document together in June this year, and WBU feels it is a good basis for a binding WIPO treaty.
Sadly, until now, the EU and USA have opposed a binding WIPO treaty for reading disabled people.
It is usual for WIPO to protect the rights of authors, publishers and the industry they belong to with binding treaties. This summer, for instance, WIPO Member States agreed to finalise a binding treaty to protect the rights of audiovisual performers. Yet the EU and USA in particular have been pushing for a “WIPO Recommendation” rather than a treaty, which would not be legally binding and would not therefore be taken seriously. Some countries at WIPO suggest such a “Recommendation” could be the first in a “two-step” process, and that at some as yet undefined second stage, though some as yet undefined process, we could have our binding treaty after all.
There are three main reasons why WBU seeks a binding treaty now and rejects a “Recommendation”, namely:
1. A “Recommendation” would add years of delay and cost, which neither blind people nor their organisations can afford.
We have already campaigned for years for a proper law on this issue, and it is costly and time-consuming to travel to Geneva and meet decision-makers in our respective countries. More importantly, such delays continue a situation in which reading disabled people have to do without books they might otherwise have read. A study just released by Yale University shows that in this context of human rights and copyright, soft law would do more harm than good and a binding treaty is needed. See link here: http://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/6564.htm
2. If you want to do a job, do it properly and fully first time round.
Publishers and authors know that the law that best protects their interests in the international arena is a treaty. That is why they do not waste their time and effort calling for non-binding “Recommendations” when lobbying to enforce copyright protection. This same principle applies to a law removing copyright barriers which prevent access to books for blind people.
3. Disabled people are not second class people, and should not have their rights protected by second class law.
WBU urges anyone whose inclination is not to believe this statement to consult the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Articles 21 and 30 of the former, and Article 19 of the latter, are particularly relevant to concerns over access to information and freedom of expression.)
WBU will have a team of delegates from around the world at the WIPO SCCR meeting this November. Governments from around the world will come to WIPO knowing that they have an opportunity to agree a landmark law to improve reading disabled people’s access to books. WBU urges them to seize that opportunity and to help end the book famine. We urge them to agree a binding WIPO treaty, this November, to allow us to start a new chapter in the lives of disabled people from around the world.
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European Blind Union's 9th General Assembly was held in Frederica, Denmark, from October 4 to 8. Congratulations to Mr. Wolfgang Angermann from Germany who was elected President. Our deepest thanks go out to Lord Colin Low who provided tremendous leadership to EBU as their President during the past eight years. To learn more go to the EBU website: http://www.euroblind.org/projects-and-activities/events/upcoming-events/nr/3
Who We Are
We are a worldwide movement of people who are blind or low vision, acting on our own behalf to:
(1) Eliminate prejudice;
(2) Promote belief in the proven abilities of blind and low vision persons; and
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We envisage a community where people who are blind or low vision are empowered to participate on an equal basis in any aspect of life they choose.