[blindlaw] [bllaw] International Copyright Concernsfor BlindReaders

Wed Jun 17 12:14:20 UTC 2009

What is Blindwebbers?
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Stimson" <marks at accessingenuity.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 3:39 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] [bllaw] International Copyright Concernsfor 
BlindReaders


> Hi Ray,
> There has been some very good posts and detailed information regarding the
> WIPO Treaty on the discussion list blindwebbers at yahoogroups.com .  If you
> would like, I could forward you the relevant posts.
>
> Best regards, Mark
>
> Mark Stimson, Ph.D.
> Document Accessibility Expert
> www.DocumentAccessibility.com
> www.AccessnIgenuity.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Frye, Dan
> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 5:49 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List; david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] [bllaw] International Copyright Concerns for
> BlindReaders
>
> Ray:
> My understanding is that the issue was preserved for revisiting during
> the next gathering of this body scheduled for sometime in late fall,
> November I believe. This was regarded as a success in the international
> context, since originally the effort was to have the topic entirely
> removed from further discussion. If I receive any additional information
> about how interested people can help advocate on this matter prior to
> the next gathering, I'll pass it along. Chris Danielsen also follows
> this issue fairly closely.
>
> Dan Frye
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of ray wayne
> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 7:48 PM
> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org; blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] [bllaw] International Copyright Concerns for
> BlindReaders
>
> Does anyone have updated information on the status of this matter? My
> chapter members received this e-mail, and our meeting is this Wednesday.
> The question will invariably come up.
> Thanks in advance.
> Ray Wayne
> PS: Please know that I am requesting information only-I do not, REPEAT,
> DO NOT, wish to instigate a flurry of commentary about the Obama
> administration!
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Frye, Dan" <DFrye at nfb.org> (by way of David Andrews
> <dandrews at visi.com>)
> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Date: Friday, May 29, 2009 17:42:27
> Subject: [bllaw] International Copyright Concerns for Blind Readers
>
>>
>>
>>
>> Colleagues:
>>
>> I am circulating a lengthy post regarding efforts to limit an
>> international treaty that would allow for rules that parallel existing
>
>> domestic exceptions to the copyright law for blind people to govern in
>
>> an international context. Please help bring pressure on authorities by
>
>> letting President Obama know that these provisions would be useful,
>> and ask him to direct his representatives to abandon their hostile
>> posture toward aspects of the treaty that would be helpful. You may
>> Email your concerns to:
>>
>> <mailto:President at whitehouse.gov>President at whitehouse.gov
>>
>> The post follows:
>>
>>
>> Right now, in Geneva, at the UN's World Intellectual Property
>> Organization, history is being made. For the first time in WIPO
>> history, the body that creates the world's copyright treaties is
>> attempting to write a copyright treaty dedicated to protecting the
>> interests of copyright users, not just copyright owners.
>>
>> At issue is a treaty to protect the rights of blind people and people
>> with other disabilities that affect reading (people with dyslexia,
>> people who are paralyzed or lack arms or hands for turning pages).
>> This should be a slam dunk: who wouldn't want a harmonized system of
>> copyright exceptions that ensure that it's possible for disabled
>> people to get access to the written word?
>>
>> The USA, that's who. The Obama administration'
>>
>> US negotiators have joined with a rogue's gallery of rich country
>> trade representatives to oppose protection for blind people. Other
>> nations and regions opposing the rights of blind people include Canada
>
>> and the EU.
>>
>> Update: Also opposing rights for disabled people: Australia, New
>> Zealand, the Vatican and Norway.
>>
>> Activists at WIPO are desperate to get the word out. They're tweeting
>> madly from the negotiation (technically called the 18th session of the
>
>> Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights) publishing
>> editorials on the Huffington Post, etc.
>>
>> Here's where you come in: this has to get wide exposure, to get cast
>> as broadly as possible, so that it will find its way into the ears of
>> the obscure power-brokers who control national trade-negotiators.
>>
>> I don't often ask readers to do things like this, but please, forward
>> this post to people you know in the US, Canada and the EU, and ask
>> them to reblog, tweet, and spread the word, especially to government
>> officials and activists who work on disabled rights. We know that WIPO
>
>> negotiations can be overwhelmed by citizen activists -- that's how we
>> killed the Broadcast Treaty negotiation a few years back -- and with
>> your help, we can make history, and create a world where copyright law
>
>> protects the public interest.
>>
>> I am attending a meeting in Geneva of the World Intellectual Property
>> Organization (WIPO). This evening the United States government, in
>> combination with other high income countries in "Group B" is seeking
>> to block an agreement to discuss a treaty for persons who are blind or
>
>> have other reading disabilities.
>>
>> The proposal for a treaty is supported by a large number of civil
>> society NGOs, the World Blind Union, the National Federation of the
>> Blind in the US, the International DAISY Consortium, Recording for the
>
>> Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), Bookshare.Org, and groups representing
>> persons with reading disabilities all around the world.
>>
>> The main aim of the treaty is to allow the cross-border import and
>> export of digital copies of books and other copyrighted works in
>> formats that are accessible to persons who are blind, visually
>> impaired, dyslexic or have other reading disabilities, using special
>> devices that present text as refreshable braille, computer generated
>> text to speech, or large type. These works, which are expensive to
>> make, are typically created under national exceptions to copyright law
>
>> that are specifically written to benefit persons with disabilities.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> The opposition from the United States and other high income countries
>> is due to intense lobbying from a large group of publishers that
>> oppose a "paradigm shift,"
>>
>> where treaties would protect consumer interests, rather than expand
>> rights for copyright owners.
>>
>> The Obama Administration was lobbied heavily on this issue, including
>> meetings with high level White House officials. Assurances coming into
>
>> the negotiations this week that things were going in the right
>> direction have turned out to be false, as the United States delegation
>
>> has basically read from a script written by lobbyists for publishers,
>> extolling the virtues of market based solutions, ignoring mountains of
>
>> evidence of a "book famine" and the insane legal barriers to share
>> works.
>>
>> Obama Joins Group to Block Treaty for Blind and Other Reading
>> Disabilities COPYRIGHT EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS Twitter feed for
>> #sccr18
>>
>>
>>
>> With Kind Regards,
>>
>>
>> ininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininin
>> ininininininininin*
>> Daniel B. Frye, J.D.
>> Associate Editor
>> The Braille Monitor
>> National Federation of the Blind
>> Office of the President
>> 1800 Johnson Street
>> Baltimore, Maryland 21230
>> Telephone: (410) 659-9314 Ext. 2208
>> Mobile: (410) 241-7006
>> Fax: (410) 685-5653
>> Email: <mailto:DFrye at nfb.org>DFrye at nfb.org
>> Web Address: <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org "Voice of the Nation's
>> Blind"
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