Blind and other reading-disabled people face a "book famine." In the global North, less than five percent of books published are available for reading disabled people. In the South that figure is less than one percent.
This event invites stakeholders, experts and EU officials to discuss a potential Treaty for the Visually Impaired currently being negotiated at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The treaty would establish limitations and exceptions to copyright for the noncommercial production and cross-border distribution of accessible books. The EU's position will decisively influence whether this international treaty is adopted or not. This stakeholder event is supported by the European Blind Union and Information Program grantee the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue.
Most accessible books are made by specialist agencies using charitable money. At present, such agencies, operating in different countries, but with a common language, often both transcribe the same book. They cannot avoid this needless and expensive duplication by sharing one accessible file or copy. This is because, under present copyright law, reading material in Braille, or formatted digitally for reading disabled people, cannot legally cross borders. This waste of scarce resources significantly hinders access to reading for the world's 300 million visually impaired people and millions of other reading disabled people.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities says that disabled people have a right to read. The best way to guarantee this right is the adoption of a binding treaty that establishes limitations and exceptions to copyright for the non-commercial production and distribution of accessible books. The World Blind Union, representing over 160 million blind and partially sighted persons in 177 member countries, has now drafted a "WIPO Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons." The draft treaty is currently being considered at WIPO.