Marrakesh Treaty
On 30th September, the Marrakesh Treaty which seeks to facilitate access to published works for visually impaired persons has come into force. This treaty also known as “books for blind treaty” was adopted by 79 WIPO members in 2013. India was the first country in the world to ratify it. Since it needed ratification by 20 members to come into force, this target was achieved on June 30, 2016.
Key Features
- The treaty requires signatories to introduce national law provisions that facilitates the availability of published works in formats like Braille that are accessible to the blind and allow their exchange across borders by organizations working for the visually impaired.
- The pact will help import of accessible format copies from the member countries by the Indian authorized entities such as educational institutions, libraries and other institutions working for the welfare of the visually impaired.
- The treaty will also ease translation of imported accessible format copies and export of accessible format copies in Indian languages.
Discussion
The treaty needs the members make necessary adaptations in national law to permit the reproduction, distribution and making available of published works in accessible formats through limitations and exceptions to the rights of copyright right holders. The issue of copyright was playing a hindrance in providing the visually impaired access to knowledge. The treaty allows the waiver of copyright restrictions in order for books to be available in formats such as formats such as Braille, large print text and audio books. The treaty also provides assurances to authors and publishers that that system will not expose their published works to misuse or distribution to anyone other than the intended beneficiaries.
We note here that there are an estimated 285 million blind and partially-sighted people in the world, of which the largest percentage lives in India. At present, nly 1 to 7% of all books published are available in formats accessible to them. According to the World Blind Union estimates, the blind children have less than 10% chance of going to school. This could be improved if the schools have access to the visually impaired friendly texts and study materials.
It is laudable that India became the first country in ratifying the treaty but ensuring the availability of books for visually impaired would need perseverance, patience and logistical effort. Theere are several changes towards this:
- The first challenge is converting the books into accessible formats either by libraries for the blind, organizations/publishers serving the print-disabled, so that the books can be read using assistive technologies on computers, phones or electronic Braille devices.
- The next challenge will be the distribution of such adapted books to the people who are in need of them including to the populations living in the rural areas.
To address these common challenges India has unveiled ‘Accessible India Campaign’ as a nationwide campaign for universal access for people with disabilities. With this, India also began the implementation of the Marrakesh treaty with the collaboration among key players. This has led to the launch of India’s largest collection of online accessible books numbering 2 lakh volumes, called as “Sugamya Pustakalaya”.
By following multi-stakeholder approach in implementing the Marrakesh Treaty, India serves as an excellent role model for the other countries to follow. Undoubtedly, Marrakesh Treaty is a significant step benefitting print-disabled people around the world. Its benefits would increase manifold if more countries participates and implements the treaty. India has showed the way now it is the turn of other countries to follow suit.
Accessible Books Campaign (ABC)
The Geneva based WIPO which administers the Marrakesh Treaty leads an alliance of private and public partners called as the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC). ABC was established in June 2014 to support the goals of the treaty. The services of ABC are free and it has established a centralised electronic multilingual catalogue of accessible books produced by the libraries for the blind throughout the world. The ABC Book Service ensures that the same book is not produced in accessible format by more than one library avoiding duplication. As of now around 19 libraries form 16 countries of the world is participating in the ABC service. ABC through its projects in India trains publishers, libraries and NGOs in the production of accessible books as well as in providing funds for the production disabled friendly education materials.
