[Njabs-talk] Stevie Wonder to UN

[EVELYN E. VALDEZ]

Stevie Wonder to UN: Ease Copyrights for the Blind
 GENEVA (AP) -- Stevie Wonder pressed global copyright overseers on
 Monday to help blind and visually impaired people access millions of
 science, history and other audiobooks, which they cannot read in
 electronic form.  The blind singer told the U.N.'s 184-nation World
 Intellectual Property Organization that more than 300 million people who
 ''live in the dark'' want to ''read their way into light,'' and the
 current copyright system denies them an equal opportunity.  The current
 legal framework means that institutes for the blind in 
 different countries may be required to make multiple audiobook versions
 of the same work, said Richard Owens, WIPO's director of copyright and
 electronic commerce.  Owens said this leads to higher costs that are
 passed on to the listeners. It also limits access to blind and partially
 blind people in poor countries, which cannot afford to make their own
 versions of everything from science textbooks to best-sellers, he said.
 The U.N. agency has been trying for six years to revamp its global
 copyright framework so that it better accounts for new media, such as
 audiobooks.  For the blind and visually impaired, the goal is to create
 a clearinghouse so that published material can be traded around the
 world and translated into new, readable formats.  But the problem of
 access for such copyrighted material goes to the heart of a growing
 crisis in the world of copyright protection, as the Internet
 increasingly muddies laws that were created for traditional media.
 Whereas wide exceptions exist for books in Braille, WIPO officials say
 there is confusion over how these benefits can be translated into the
 digital age.  Proponents of a new agreement say the same benefits that
 digital books provide most consumers -- lower costs and better storage
 and
 accessibility -- should be extended to those with disabilities. The
 United States and European nations that export large amounts of
 published material are somewhat hesitant because of concerns over an
 erosion of intellectual property rights, and want to avoid a binding
 treaty.  Wonder called for a compromise and teased the diplomats.
 ''Please work it out. Or I'll have to write a song about what you didn't
 do,'' said the 60-year-old singer known for such hits as
 ''Superstition'' and ''I Just Called to Say I Love You.''   Complicating
 the talks are the demands of African countries, which are seeking even
 larger copyright loopholes. They want their libraries and academic
 institutions to be able to skip licensing agreements so that they can
 provide audiobook access for larger communities.  Wonder, who has sold
 tens of million of albums, said any agreement should respect the authors
 ''who labor to create the great works that enlighten and nourish our
 minds, hearts and souls.'' He insisted on a practical solution so that
 blind and visually impaired people get ''the tools to think their way
 out of poverty.''