[NFBNJ] United States of America Joins WIPO’s Marrakesh Treaty as 50th Member In Major Advance for the Global Blind Community
joe ruffalo
nfbnj1 at verizon.net
Fri Feb 8 14:18:30 UTC 2019
Greetings to all!
GREAT NEWS!
Received from Andy Smith, NFBNJ Technology Division board member.
Note: Shortly, you will be receiving a press release from the NFB
highlighting the Marrakesh Treaty, ending the book famine!
Warmly,
Joe
We care. We share. We grow. We make a difference
Joe Ruffalo, President
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
973 743 0075
nfbnj1 at verizon.net
www.nfbnj.org
Raising Expectations To Live The Life You Want!
Your old car keys can be keys to literacy for the blind.
Donate your unwanted vehicle to us by clicking
www.carshelpingtheblind.org
or call 855 659 9314
****
Joe, you might consider forwarding this on.
Marrakesh Treaty – Ending the “book famine”
<https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2019/article_0002.html>
Geneva, February 8, 2019
PR/2019/828
The United States of America has joined WIPO’s fast-growing Marrakesh Treaty
as its 50th member, adding a major global publishing center to the Treaty
that promotes the increased worldwide availability of texts specially
adapted for use by persons with visual or print impairments.
The U.S. is home to the largest number of English-language texts in
accessible formats, such as Braille, for use by people living with print or
visual disabilities. The Treaty eases the creation and international
transfer of accessible texts among its 50 contracting parties, which cover
78 countries (including the 28-member European Union).
Video: Video
<https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2019/article_0002.html#wipoModal1>
(Watch on YouTube <https://youtu.be/ANi9FQ6l0P4>)
U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed the Marrakesh Treaty ratification
document, which was received by WIPO Director General Francis Gurry from
Mark Cassayre, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations
in Geneva, on February 8, 2019.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and Mark Cassayre, Chargé d’Affaires of
the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva (photo: WIPO/Berrod)
When the Treaty takes effect in the U.S. in three months, some 550,000
accessible texts will become immediately available to visually impaired
persons living in Marrakesh Treaty-adherent countries, according to figures
from the U.S.-based National Federation of the Blind.
“The Marrakesh Treaty is WIPO’s fastest-growing treaty and we hope it
becomes a universal one soon, so visually impaired people in every corner of
the globe can more easily benefit from learning and culture no matter where
it is created,” said Mr. Gurry. “The U.S. already houses the world’s largest
repository of accessible English-language material, representing a major
increase in the global resource base for visually impaired people living in
countries that have joined the Marrakesh Treaty,” he said.
“I’m proud of American leadership and the USPTO’s efforts in the negotiation
of the Marrakesh Treaty, and the opportunities that our ratification creates
for the blind and visually impaired community in the United States and
around the world,” said Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO). “This treaty establishes an important mechanism to both protect
intellectual property rights and expand access to information and
resources.”
“The United States’ formal membership in the Marrakesh Treaty marks a major
achievement for our country and a significant positive step forward for the
millions of persons who are blind and visually impaired throughout the
world,” said Karyn A. Temple, Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of
the United States Copyright Office. “The United States will now join our
fellow nations in promoting greater accessibility to print materials around
the globe.”
“The National Federation of the Blind seeks the removal of all artificial or
unnecessary barriers to access to knowledge by the blind,” said Mark
Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “That is why
we championed the Marrakesh Treaty and fought for its signing and
ratification by the United States. Today’s deposit of the US ratification
instrument represents the culmination of that effort, but even more
importantly, it represents greater access to the world’s literature and
knowledge for blind people in America and across the world. We are therefore
pleased to celebrate this historic moment with our blind brothers and
sisters everywhere.”
“We pause to celebrate this moment as the United States formally joins the
Marrakesh Treaty," said Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the
Association of American Publishers. “Having worked so tirelessly with so
many talented partners to realize a better legal framework for accessible
formats, publishers now salute the many readers throughout the world who are
blind, visually impaired or otherwise living with print disabilities.
Congratulations and happy reading!"
Marrakesh Treaty – Ending the “book famine”
Contracting parties to the “Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to
Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise
Print Disabled <https://www.wipo.int/marrakesh_treaty/en/>” adopt national
law provisions that permit the production of books in accessible formats,
such as braille, e-text, audio or large print, by organizations known as
authorized entities that serve people who are print disabled. It also
allows for the exchange of such accessible texts across national boundaries,
all without requesting authorization from the copyright owner.
The World Health Organization estimates that 253 million are living with
visually impairments around the world, with the majority located in
lower-income countries.
The Treaty was adopted on June 27, 2013, at a diplomatic conference
organized by WIPO and hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco in Marrakesh. The
treaty entered into force on September 30, 2016, three months after it
gained the necessary 20 ratifications or accessions by WIPO members.
ABC - The Accessible Books Consortium
WIPO and its partners created the Accessible Books Consortium
<https://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/> (ABC) in 2014 to help implement
the Marrakesh Treaty at a practical level. Its activities include the ABC
Global Book Service, with 320,000 titles currently available for
cross-border exchange under the Treaty’s terms. This number will eventually
grow to 370,000 after the Treaty enters into force in the U.S., when titles
can be added from the U.S. National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped (NLS), a long-standing member of ABC.
Forty-seven authorized entities have joined the ABC Global Book Service,
which contains accessible books in 76 languages. The majority of the Book
Service’s titles are available in high-quality, human-narrated audiobooks.
ABC also works to promote the creation of “born-accessible” texts that can
be immediately used by people with visual impairments at the time of first
publication, further streamlining the process to bring the world’s knowledge
and culture into the hands of people living with visual impairments.
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