Greek Presidency signs Marrakesh Treaty on behalf of the EU
2 May 2014 01:24 PM
The European Union signed, on 30 April 2014, in
Geneva the Marrakesh Treaty, which will facilitate access to published works
for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled.
The
European Union signed, on 30 April 2014, in Geneva the Marrakesh Treaty. The
Treaty will facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind,
visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. It had been negotiated in the
framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Negotiations
concluded on 28 June 2013 in Marrakesh. Since then fifty-one states have signed
the Treaty, including four EU Member States.
The Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union, represented by the
Ambassador of Greece to the UN in Geneva, Alexandros Alexandris, signed the
Treaty on behalf of the European Union, in the presence of WIPO Director
General Francis Gurry, the Head of the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva,
Mariangela Zappia, the Executive Director of the European Blind Union Mokrane
Boussaid and the Secretary General of the International Publishers Association
Jens Bammel. The Treaty was also signed by France, Greece and India during the
same event.
EU
Ambassador Mariangela Zappia said in her remarks at the signing ceremony that
facilitating access to books was indispensable to make progress towards equal
opportunities for print-disabled persons in society: "The Marrakesh Treaty
will contribute to this progress in Europe and in many countries around the
globe."
Irini Stamatoudi, Director General to the Hellenic
Copyright Organisation in her speech referred to the fact that the Presidency
“has put its best endeavours to have the decision of the signing of the
Marrakesh Treaty by the EU adopted as soon as possible and we succeeded in this
goal”. She also stressed that “we want to convey a strong message
that we want this Treaty to work and serve its original
purpose”.
The
Marrakesh Treaty will - for the first time at international level - make access
to books in special formats easier for visually impaired and print disabled
persons, while respecting international copyright law norms. The Treaty creates
a mandatory exception to copyright that allows organisations for blind people
to produce, distribute and make available accessible format copies to visually
impaired persons without the authorisation of the right holder. The Treaty will
enter into force after ratification by twenty states.
The
European Union has been instrumental in pushing the Treaty forward. EU
Commissioner Barnier at the time of the adoption hailed the Treaty as a great
success: "Finally, the visually impaired and print-disabled community will
be able to have access to the same books as other
people".
According to the World Blind Union there are an
estimated 285 million blind and partially sighted people living worldwide, most
of them in developing countries, and they can only access 5% of the world's
books. The Marrakesh Treaty will also make it possible to export accessible
format copies to other states party to the Treaty and will thus increase the
availability of special formats all around the world.
Read also: A step towards adoption of Treaty to ensure equal
access to books for visually impaired and print disabled
persons