Republic of Korea signs up for Marrakesh Treaty

Today sees the release by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of Marrakesh Notification No. 11, Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled: Ratification by the Republic of Korea.

The Republic of Korea (a.k.a. South Korea) deposited its instrument of ratification on 8 October, but the number of countries that have committed themselves to this Treaty so far is so small that we are still a long way from seeing it come into force.

Mongolia commits to Marrakesh

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has now released Marrakesh Notification No. 10: Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. As its title suggests, it reflects the deposit by the Government of Mongolia last week of its instrument of ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty. Readers of this weblog can probably chant in their sleep the mantra that

The date of entry into force of the said Treaty will be notified when the required number of ratifications or accessions is reached in accordance with Article 18 of the said Treaty.

The day will come, however, when we will all be astonished to discover that the requisite number of countries has been reached [for a reminder of the coming-into-force details just click here].

Marrakesh Treaty: Mexico makes it nine

The United Mexican States has become the ninth country to commit itself to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, according to a media release from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Treaty will roar into life three months after 20 countries have ratified or acceded to it, under Article 18 of the Treaty. Curiously, of the first nine, five are from Latin America.

The current list of sign-ups for Marrakesh can be accessed here.

More good news for Marrakesh: Argentina commits to VIP Treaty

By Marrakesh Notification No. 8: Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (here), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) lets everyone know that the Argentine Republic has become the latest country to commit itself to the Marrakesh Treaty, which it has now ratified.

This still doesn't being the Treaty into force (on the number of accessions and ratifications required, see our recent post on Singapore's accession to the same treaty, here).

Singapore signs up for Marrakesh

Just released this morning, a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) media release, "Marrakesh Notification No. 7 Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled", tells us that the Republic of Singapore has now deposited its instrument of accession to the Marrakesh Treaty -- which is still some way short of coming into force (that will happen three months after 20 countries have committed to it, under Article 18 of the Treaty).

The current list of nations committed to Marrakesh stands at a mere seven so far (you can check the list, which is updated whenever necessary, here).

Marrakesh Treaty: now Paraguay makes six

The World Intellectual Property Organization has just issued a media release, Marrakesh Notification No. 6: Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled: Ratification by the Republic of Paraguay.

The event which this release records is the deposit by the Government of the Republic of Paraguay of its instrument of ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. The date of entry into force of this Treaty will be three months from the date on which it secures the requisite number of 20 accessions or ratifications required under Article 18.  At present there are just six countries which have taken this step: three from Latin America, plus India, the United Arab Emirates and Mali. Things are a little silent in Europe, however ...

You can check additions to the list on the Treaty's Notifications page here.

Mali signs up for Marrakesh

By Marrakesh Notification No. 5: Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, WIPO has announced the deposit by the Government of the Republic of Mali of its instrument of ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty (which won't come into force till the required number of ratifications or accessions is reached in accordance with Article 18 of the Treaty).

Blindness and visual impairment in Mali here
Amadou and Mariam: blind performers in Mali here

United Arab Emirates sign up for more copyright treaties

The United Arab Emirates have been busily upgrading their copyright commitments. Only a couple of months ago we reported that the UAE had renewed its Berne Convention relaxations (here). But now the Emirates have opted to sign up for WIPO's two most recent international copyright treaties.

First, by Beijing Notification No. 6 we are informed that the UAE has deposited its instrument of accession to the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (the date of entry into force of this Treaty remains unknown but will be notified when the required number of ratifications or accessions is reached in accordance with Article 26 of that Treaty). Further, by Marrakesh Notification No. 3 we learn that a similar commitment has been made with regard to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled -- the commencement date for which is also uncertain, depending on receipt of the required number of ratifications or accessions under with Article 18 of that Treaty.

Accessible books and the Marrakesh Treaty: as easy as ABC

"Accessible Books Consortium Launched, Joins Effort to End “Book Famine” for People with Print Disabilities" is the encouraging if somewhat cumbersome title of a media release from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) yesterday.  According to WIPO:

The World Intellectual Property Organization and a group of key partners are launching a new alliance to boost the number of books in accessible format for use by hundreds of millions of people around the globe who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled, most of whom live in less-developed regions.

The ... Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) ... was created to help implement the objectives of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled at a practical level through work in three areas: the sharing of technical skills in developing and least developed countries to produce and distribute books in accessible formats, promoting inclusive publishing, and building an international database and book exchange of accessible books. The Marrakesh Treaty ... will enter into force once it has been ratified by 20 nations [of which only India has so far committed itself]. ...

According to the World Blind Union (“WBU”), over 90% of all published materials are inaccessible by blind or low vision people. This scarcity of published works in accessible formats has been referred to as the “global book famine”. "The Accessible Book Consortium provides a practical way to address the enormous problem of the lack of books in accessible formats in the world today" said Ms Maryanne Diamond, Immediate Past President of the World Blind Union and Chair of the International Disability Alliance: 

"Persons with print disabilities have the right to information and the right to read on an equal basis with their sighted peers. The ABC provides an excellent platform to bring together key stakeholders in the delivery of holistic solutions to this very large and complicated global problem". 

...
Through its work on capacity building in developing and least developed countries, the ABC is helping to boost technical knowledge in how to produce accessible books, particularly for school books in national languages. The ABC also promotes inclusive publishing, which encourages publishers to deliver digital publications for sighted audiences that are equally accessible to the print disabled – a system known as “born accessible” – as well as encouraging the adoption of an industry-wide accessibility standard.

... Under the auspices of ABC, WIPO also hosts the Trusted Intermediary Global Accessible Resources (TIGAR) book exchange, a database of over 238,000 accessible format books in 55 languages from libraries from around the world.

The ABC includes the following umbrella organizations: World Blind Union, DAISY Consortium, International Authors' Forum, International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations, and the International Publishers Association".

In an era in which we are increasingly focused on what the law actively permits, tolerates or forbids, it's encouraging to see organisations that are as disparate in their objectives as the members of ABC coming together to do something voluntarily in order to improve the world in which they live, without presumably jeopardising the lives and livelihoods of the creators of copyright works and those who own and manage those rights.

Marrakesh Treaty: a paper for a puzzle

Anything but Express! The
Marrakesh Treaty was a long
time in coming ...

"The Marrakesh Puzzle" is a paper by US-based scholar Marketa Trimble (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law). Soon to be published in IIC, the International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, Marketa's piece is currently available for all to peruse via the kindness of SSRN, here. According to the abstract:

This article analyzes the puzzle created by the 2013 Marrakesh Treaty in its provisions concerning the cross-border exchange of copies of copyrighted works made for use by persons who are “blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled” (copies known as “accessible format copies”). The analysis should assist executive and legislative experts as they seek optimal methods for implementing the Treaty. 

The article provides an overview of the Treaty, notes its unique features, and examines in detail its provisions on the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies. The article discusses three possible sources for implementation tools – choice of law rules, the exhaustion doctrine, and labeling – and concludes that a suitable method of implementing the cross-border exchange provisions of the Treaty may consist of a combination of appropriately-selected rules for choice of applicable law and rules for labeling.

Thanks, Marketa, for letting us know.  It's always fun to read articles on treaties at the relatively early stages of their life, since the footnotes are usually devoted to useful sources and materials and haven't yet become depressingly cumbersome bibliographical exercises in listing everything in sight so that no-one thinks you've missed something.

Israel publishes bill on disability-related exceptions

From Tamir Afori (a partner in the Tel-Aviv law firm of Gilat, Bareket & Co.) comes news that the Israeli Ministry of Justice has now published a bill in which it is proposed to add an exception to the Copyright Act (as well as an exception to the Performers and Broadcasters Rights Act).  The proposed exception follows the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled [full text here, Agreed Statement on its interpretation here], but it covers all sorts of disabilities, not only sight. (thus it may apply to, for example, hearing disabilities).

The bill also relates to the exporting of "adapted copy" for the benefit of people with disabilities outside of Israel. Here is a link to the Hebrew version (no English translation is yet available).

This blogger notes that Israel has acted surprisingly swiftly to legislate a Marrakesh-type exception when that country is not yet a signatory to that Treaty (which is not yet in force).