[il-talk] FW: [leadership] ACB Action Alert: Call Senate to Vote "Yes" for Marrakesh

[Ray Campbell]

Ray Campbell

 <mailto:Ray153056 at gmail.com> Ray153056 at gmail.com

 

Blog: farmers-boy.livejournal.com

Twitter: @packerbackerray

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From: Kelly Gasque via leadership <leadership at acblists.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 2:41 PM
To: leadership at acblists.org; announce at acblists.org
Subject: [leadership] ACB Action Alert: Call Senate to Vote "Yes" for Marrakesh

 

This afternoon, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations advanced the Marrakesh Treaty, which aims to remove the obstacles to accessing published works in accessible formats by people who are blind or have other print-reading disabilities. The treaty now moves to the full Senate, where it must receive a two-thirds majority vote for final ratification. The American Council of the Blind needs your help moving the treaty to the finish line. Act now by calling your senators and urge them to vote “Yes” on the Marrakesh Treaty.  

 

You can reach your Senate office by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Once you connect to your two Senate offices, let them know you’re a constituent who supports ending the book famine for people who are blind, and you hope they will vote “Yes” for the Marrakesh Treaty.

 

The treaty is important for Americans, as it removes barriers for those traveling or living abroad who need access to copyrighted works in an accessible format such as braille or audio. Although advances in technology in recent years have given people with visual impairments many more options for accessing printed materials in accessible formats, the World Blind Union estimates that we still have access to only about five percent of the books published worldwide each year. In parts of the world that are less developed, less than one percent of published works are accessible to people with print-reading disabilities. This situation persists in spite of provisions in copyright law in countries such as the U.S. that allow producers of accessible format books to publish and distribute such accessible format works to people who are blind or have print-reading disabilities.

 

The Marrakesh Treaty received broad support from not only blindness organizations, but publishers and copyright law experts throughout the U.S. and around the world.

 

If ratified, the United States will join 39 other countries who have signed onto the treaty. Let’s move forward to 40! Learn more at www.acb.org/marrakesh <https://mandrillapp.com/track/click/30489975/www.acb.org?p=eyJzIjoiaTBCQnZqVmgtVXVHdERha2prM1RYcEJTSzh3IiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjozMDQ4OTk3NSxcInZcIjoxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwOlxcXC9cXFwvd3d3LmFjYi5vcmdcXFwvbWFycmFrZXNoXCIsXCJpZFwiOlwiM2Q5YzBjYzNjMGNiNDMyNjkzZDNjNTE2Y2Q1MWY5NDNcIixcInVybF9pZHNcIjpbXCIxNjE0YTU2ZDM0MWE4YzFmNmZkOTM3OTQwY2ZmY2NmYjg4ZjgyMzBiXCJdfSJ9> .

 

  <https://mandrillapp.com/track/open.php?u=30489975&id=3d9c0cc3c0cb432693d3c516cd51f943>