[nabs-l] WIPO reaches agreement ending book famine

[zeynep sule yilmaz]

Hi All,

I wanted to share that good news with you.  Please find details below.

Thanks,

Zeynep

Your voice has been heard. Thank you!

	Dear Friend,
This morning officials at the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) reached an agreement to provide wider access to books for the
visually impaired in different countries, a long-pending demand of the
Perkins community, World Blind Union and activist groups everywhere.

The treaty is expected to be formally adopted in the plenary session
tomorrow, June 27, concluding a conference in Marrakesh, Morocco,
where representatives from more than 180 countries have been in
attendance.

Worldwide, less than 1% of all books are accessible for people who are
blind and this month we asked you to get involved.

Dr. W. Aubrey Webson, director of Perkins International celebrates the
treaty. "A key has been turned to open the door to opportunities for
persons who are blind and those with print handicaps. It shows that
even a small group of dedicated persons can change the world and in
this case, indeed they have."

Your voice has been heard. This is the first critical step in solving
a worldwide book famine.
When officially approved tomorrow, the treaty will help aid
distribution of specially formatted books in different countries by
removing copyright law hurdles. For instance, U.S.-based Bookshare,
which is an online library for people with sight disabilities, has
about 200,000 books in its collection, but only about 75,000 of them
can be distributed in the U.K. because of copyright restrictions.

There's a lot of work to do, but this is a big win and a great start.
We couldn't have done this without you.

Thank you,

Steven M. Rothstein
President, Perkins