PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union,
the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for
Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print
Disabled.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the
act only if Parliament has given its consent to the
act.
BACKGROUND: people who are blind, visually impaired or
otherwise unable to access printed material must have equal access
to books and printed material in order to fully and effectively
participate in society. The World Health Organisation (WHO)
estimates that 285 million people worldwide are visually
impaired: 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision.
The World Blind Union reports that in Europe only 5% of published
books are available in an accessible format for visually impaired
persons, while in developing countries where approximately
90% of visually impaired people live this rate is as low as
1%.
Since January 2011, the European Union has been bound
by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. This enshrines the right of access to information
(Article 21) and the right of people with disabilities to
participate in cultural life on an equal basis with others (Article
30). The Convention has become an integral part of the EU legal
order. Twenty-five Member States are parties to the Convention and
three countries are finalising ratification.
In 2009, negotiations began in the World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO) on a possible international treaty
introducing limitations and exceptions to copyright for the benefit
of people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise
print-disabled, with the objective of facilitating the
cross-border exchange of books in accessible
formats.
On 26 November 2012, the Council adopted a Decision
authorising the Commission to participate in these negotiations, on
behalf of the European Union. The WIPO negotiations were
successfully concluded at the diplomatic conference held in
Marrakesh between 17 and 28 June 2013. These led to the adoption of
the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for
Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print
Disabled on 27 June 2013.
The Council authorised the signature of the Treaty on
behalf of the European Union on 14 April 2014.
It is now necessary to conclude this Agreement on
behalf of the European Union.
CONTENT: this proposal calls on the Council to
approve, on behalf of the European Union, the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published
Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise
Print Disabled.
Objectives of the Treaty: the Treaty establishes a set of international rules
which ensure that there are limitations or exceptions to copyright
at national level for the benefit of people who are blind,
visually
impaired, or otherwise print-disabled and enable the
cross-border exchange of accessible format copies of published
works that have been made under an exception or limitation to
copyright in any of the Contracting Parties to the
Treaty.
Main provisions:
Definition and scope:
the Treaty defines:
- the beneficiaries: they are
people who are blind, have a visual impairment or a perceptual or
reading disability, or are otherwise unable, due to physical
disability, to hold or manipulate a book, or focus or move their
eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for
reading;
- works: as literary and
artistic works within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Berne
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, in
the form of text, notation and/or related illustrations, whether
published or otherwise made publicly available in any media. By
virtue of an agreed statement, this also covers
audiobooks;
- an accessible-format copy: as is a copy in an
alternative manner and form compared to the format in which the
work has been published and which gives beneficiaries access to the
work as comfortably as sighted people could access it. The
accessible-format copy must be used exclusively by beneficiaries
and it must respect the integrity of the original work.
Accessible format copies made under a limitation or
exception to copyright may be exported by authorised
entities, defined as government institutions or other
organisations that provide education, instructional training,
adaptive reading or information access to blind, visually impaired,
or otherwise print-disabled persons on a non-profit
basis.
These entities must ensure that they only distribute
accessible formats to beneficiaries, that they discourage the
reproduction, distribution and making available of unauthorised
copies and that they maintain due care in, and records of, their
handling of the copies.
Production obligations of accessible format
copies: the Treaty obliges every
Contracting Party to provide, in their national copyright laws, for
a limitation or exception to the rights of reproduction,
distribution and making available to the public, to facilitate
the availability of works in accessible formats for the
Treatys beneficiaries.
Contracting Parties may decide to limit such
limitations or exceptions to cases where accessible format copies
are not commercially available on reasonable terms to beneficiaries
in their territory.
Three-step test: Contracting Parties may only allow accessible format
copies to be exported, if they ensure that relevant limitations or
exceptions to the rights of reproduction, distribution and making
available to the public are subject to the three-step
test. This means that either they must be a party to the WIPO
Copyright Treaty (WCT) or they must otherwise ensure that the
relevant limitations or exceptions are limited to certain special
cases which do not conflict with the normal exploitation of the
work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of
the right holder.
Import authorisation:
the Treaty clarifies that, to the extent a Contracting Party
permits a beneficiary or an authorised entity to make an
accessible-format copy of a work, it should also permit
accessible-format copies to be imported.
Contracting Parties are obliged to take appropriate
measures, if necessary, to ensure that when they provide adequate
legal protection and effective legal remedies against the
circumvention of effective technological measures, this legal
protection does not prevent the beneficiaries from enjoying the
limitations and exceptions provided for in the Treaty.
Protection of privacy:
the Treaty also requires Contracting Parties to protect the privacy
of beneficiaries and to cooperate in order to facilitate the
cross-border exchange of accessible-format copies. WIPO will set up
an information access point to assist authorised entities in
identifying one another with a view to working together. The Treaty
also encourages authorised entities to provide information on their
policies and practices to interested parties and to members of the
public.
Ratification procedure and entry into
force: the Treaty confirms that
Contracting Parties are free to determine the appropriate method of
implementing the Treaty within their own legal system and practice.
However, they must comply with existing international obligations
under the Berne Convention, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights and the WIPO Copyright Treaty
(WCT).
The Treaty will enter into force once twenty
Contracting Parties have ratified it.
Other specific provisions: the Treaty also:
- recognises that the Contracting Parties may maintain
or implement other limitations and exceptions for beneficiaries and
people with other disabilities, outside the scope of the
Treaty;
- contains administrative and procedural provisions that
are very similar to those in other WIPO Treaties in the field of
copyright (e.g. WCT).
Competence of the EU:
the EU may become a party to the Treaty, having made the
declaration during the Marrakesh diplomatic conference, that it is
competent in respect of, and has its own legislation binding on all
its Member States on matters covered by this Treaty and that it has
been duly authorised, in accordance with its internal procedures,
to become party to the Treaty. The European Union signed the final
act of the diplomatic conference on 28 June 2013 and signed the
Treaty on 30 April 2014 in Geneva.