2008 WBU proposal for a WIPO Treaty for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons

The World Blind Union Proposal

• On July 24-25 2008, the World Blind Union (WBU) and KEI
  convened an experts meeting to consider a possible WIPO Treaty for
  Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading
  Disabled Persons. A report of the meeting is available in 
  html, pdf , Microsoft .doc or open document odt formats.
• The text of the WBU proposal for a treaty is available here in Arabic, English, French and
  Spanish. The English version is available in DAISY format from the
  DAISY Consortium website.
• A good explaination of the proposal is found in the October 28,
  2008 letter from Christopher E.B.
  Friend, Chair, of the WBU Copyright and Right to Read Working
  Group, to WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
• A summary of discussions at WIPO on access for blind, visually
  impaired and other reading disabled persons, dating back to 2002,
  is available here. 

Background Documents

• WIPO will be holding a Standing Committee on Copyright and
  Related Rights (SCCR) meeting December 14-18, 2009, where this
  topic will be discussed. A list of the country delegates to the
  previous SCCR meeting are available here.
• • The November 4, 2008
    presentations by Judith Sullivan at the WIPO SCCR 17,
  • in powerpoint and pdf.
• The March 2008 Proposal by Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay
  for Work Related to Exceptions and Limitations, (SCCR/16/2)
• The February 2007 Judith Sullivan’s excellent WIPO Study on Copyright
  Limitations and Exceptions for the Visually Impaired
  (SCCR/15/7).
• The November 2005 Proposal by Chile on the Analysis of
  Exceptions and Limitations (SCCR/13/5)
• The 2003 WBU submissions to WIPO are detailed here and
  here
  .
• KEI will soon have a page on national copyright exceptions
  here.

Press coverage and blogs

• Available here.

Groups supporting the WBU proposal:

• Benetech /  Bookshare.org letter of
  “strong support” for a WIPO treaty for the visually impaired is
  available here.
• Vision Australia’s letter to the Australian delegation
  supporting WBU’s proposal for a WIPO treaty for the visually
  impaired is available here.
• 
  Letter to Canadian delegation from CNIB president Jim
  Sanders.
• Letter from Tiflolibros
  (Argentina) to the governments of Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico,
  Ecuador and Cuba
• Chilean NGO
  Derechos Digitales’s request to the Chilean Ministry of Foreign
  Affairs
• 
  Chilean National Blind Organization’s letter to the Chilean
  government 
• Letter from
  ONCE, the National Organization of the Spanish Blind, to the
  Spanish government requesting support for the WBU WIPO treaty
  proposal
• 
  Letter from Indian civil society to the Indian government

General studies and papers on copyright limitations and
exeptions

• P. Bernt Hugenholtz & Ruth L. Okediji),
  Conceiving an International Instrument on Limitations and
  Exceptions to Copyright , Study supported by the Open Society
  Institute (OSI), 6 March 2008.
• Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and
  Archives, (SCCR/17/2), August 26, 2008.  P repared
  by Kenneth Crews, Director, Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia
  University.
• WIPO Study on Limitations and Exceptions of Copyright and
  Related Rights in the Digital Environment, (SCCR/9/7),
  April 5, 2003.  Prepared by Mr. Sam Ricketson, Professor of
  Law, University of Melbourne and Barrister, Victoria,
  Australia.
• Automated Rights Management Systems and Copyright Limitations
  and Exceptions, (SCCR/14/5), April 27,
  2006.  Prepared by Nic Garnett, Principal Consultant,
  Interight.com, for the World Intellectual Property Organization
  (WIPO).