That is outstanding! A historic moment for all of us indeed.
On 6/26/13, Ketan Kothari <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi friends, > > Here we go: > > Miracle In Marrakesh: “Historic” Treaty For Visually Impaired Agreed > Published on 26 June 2013 @ 3:26 am > > > By Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch > > > Marrakesh, Morocco – The mood was one of celebration at the Marrakesh Palais > des Congrès to greet the success of World Intellectual Property Organization > negotiators in their attempt to produce a draft treaty text showing > consensus. After a difficult start to the week, delegates achieved success > and the corridors of the conference centre echoed with laughter and > congratulations. Tears of joy were shed as most celebrated this as an > historic agreement. Visually impaired people and civil society supporting > them were ecstatic, some said overwhelmed. > > The final informal consolidation draft text [pdf] was issued late at night, > and all articles were adopted by a full room of delegates. The text is now > off to the drafting committee which will ensure that all different language > versions are consistent and compatible. > > WIPO members are meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 17-28 June to finalise > a treaty on limitations and exceptions to copyright for blind and visually > impaired persons, allowing them better cross-border access to books. > > For the visually impaired community, this is seen as nothing short of a > miracle. After 10 days of hard negotiations, Dan Pescod, who leads the World > Blind Union’s European campaign for the treaty, confessing exhaustion, told > Intellectual Property Watch before the text was available “part of me wants > to see the text in front of me and part of me feels this is an historic day > many years in the making.” > > Maryanne Diamond, immediate past president of the World Blind Union, told > Intellectual Property Watch that all issues that mattered for blind people > had been addressed. “We are still in shock,” she said, adding “this is the > beginning of changing the world for blind people.” > > Pablo Lecuona from the Latin American Blind Union said that for the past > five years the blind community had been pushing for recognition of the > problem of access to books for visually impaired people. “Now we have a > treaty,” he told Intellectual Property Watch, but said they have further > work, which is the ratification and the implementation of this treaty so > that it is an effective tool so that blind people can access more books. > > “I am overwhelmed. It was so hard and it should not have been so hard,” said > Jamie Love, a strong supporter of the treaty. “It took five years of hard > work when it could have been much quicker but people really changed their > mind when they met blind people. You could see a change in attitude in > delegates,” he said. > > “The European Union and the United States delegates found a way to push back > on industry lobbying,” he told Intellectual Property Watch, and even within > industry, he added, there was a change of attitude, with some lobbyists > pushing back hardliners. > > Jim Fruchterman, the head of Benetech, which runs Bookshare, a digital > platform providing special format books for visually impaired people, said, > “We are extremely excited about the treaty. We have the technology and we > have the content, now we have a legal regime to make it possible for every > person with print disabilities on the planet to get access to the books they > need for education, employment, and social inclusion.” > > Delegates Displaying Glee > > The level of enthusiasm was the same among delegates, whether from > developed, developing or least-developed countries. > > Justin Hughes, a US delegate, told Intellectual Property Watch, “It was a > pleasure to work with Brazil, and the European Union, and Mexico in the > early days to try to get the first collaborative text together. Obviously it > feels wonderful to see that text come to fruition.” > > Another representative of Group B developed countries said that the text was > balanced, as a European Union delegate said, “Everybody is very happy, very > satisfied.” A delegate of the African Group said, “It is a miracle.” > > In a rare occurrence, all delegations, as well as civil society, celebrated > in unison a treaty characterised as serving human rights. > > The enthusiasm was not as marked on the side of publishers. A source from > the publishing industry told Intellectual Property Watch that the text was > “pretty balanced” and that “there was something in it for everyone.” Visibly > the text is not to their full satisfaction, but most interviewed said they > were happy for visually impaired people. > > WIPO Director General Francis Gurry told observers that the treaty had been > driven by nongovernmental organisations and it was not only a treaty, but a > good treaty. He extended “his profound thanks” for what he describes as “a > truly historic result.” > > “It is a great thing for WIPO, for intellectual property, for the > multilateral system, but above all, for visually impaired persons,” Gurry > said. He was greeted by sustained applause. Participants widely praised the > work of the WIPO secretariat. > > After a difficult beginning of the week when progress was very limited on > issues on which delegations stood firm, relief first came last Saturday when > agreement was reached on the three-step test and the so-called Berne gap > (IPW, WIPO, 24 June 2013). > > Agreement on Tough Issues > > Since then, there was mounting pressure to find agreement and the visually > impaired representatives grew worried about the nature of the treaty. Among > the issues remaining to be resolved as recently as yesterday were commercial > availability, right of distribution to individuals, and right of > translation. > > The issue of commercial availability, longstanding and pugnacious, was > solved yesterday. Visually impaired people and developing countries wanted > it out of the treaty, publishers and developed countries wanted it in. > Finally, commercial availability still stands under Article 4 (National Law > Limitations and Exceptions on Accessible Format Copies), but has disappeared > from Article 5 (cross-border exchange of accessible format copies). > > The issue of the right of distribution to individuals was settled after > “some additional safeguards and some additional information sharing > mechanisms” were added to the text, according to Hughes. > > The text will come back to plenary to be reviewed and adopted, after having > been through the drafting committee, on Thursday morning, said the WIPO > secretariat, and countries will give their comments on the treaty at this > time. > > > > > > Ketan Kothari > Ph: +91:2224223281 > Cell: +91-9987550614/+918108842280 > Skype: ketan3333 > Twitter: @muktaketan > Facebook: Ketan Kothari > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > -- -Kartik Sawhney, Mob.: 91-9560953728 Landline: 91-11-29811529 E-mail ID: [email protected] (all personal E-mails); [email protected] (all academic E-mails) Skype: kartik.sawhney22 Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
