New commentary to the Marrakesh VIP Treaty

Today in Marrakesh

A few months ago Jeremy brought to readers' attention news of the release of a guide prepared by the Library Copyright Alliance on the recent WIPO Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print-disabled (the so called Marrakesh VIP Treaty). The 1709 Blog has now been informed that a commentary to the Treaty has been also prepared by Dr Mihály J Ficsor sr, world-renowned copyright expert, currently honourable president of the Hungarian Copyright Council, and probably one of the most active retirees in the world, as 1709 Blog good friend Peter Munkacsi explains:

“Listening to the refrain “Marrakesh, come to Marrakesh” in this famous early 80s song by Goombay Dance Band (which, by the way, became extremely popular across Eastern Europe at that time) - whether at the radio or courtesy of our neighbour's New Year's Eve Retro-Party - reminded me that I could bring to 1709 Blog readers' attention the existence of an article-by-article commentary (so far the most detailed) to the Marrakesh WIPO Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print-disabled.

Adoption of this new multilateral treaty at the Diplomatic Conference that took place in Marrakesh, Morocco, in June last under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization was a remarkable success in the field of the international copyright in 2013.

Today in Budapest

The author of this commentary is Dr Mihály J Ficsor sr, who made it available for download from his website.

The Introduction to the Commentary stresses the importance of the Marrakesh Treaty, which - together with the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (BTAP) adopted a year earlier (also analysed here) – seems to have put an end to quite a troubled period (ie more or less the last decade) in the international copyright relations, by contributing to a well-balanced international regulation of copyright and, at the same time, rejecting badly informed campaigns against certain indispensable elements of the existing copyright norms (in particular the three-step test and TPM protection). 

The Commentary also discusses why the Marrakesh Treaty has been rightly considered as exceptional and unique and why it cannot be regarded as a model for future treaties on other limitations and exceptions.

     

Several papers on key copyright developments are now published on Dr Ficsor’s new website, on belief that the topicality of certain issues call for swift publication (and what is swifter than the internet?): so do take a look!”