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The Road to Accessibility without Borders: Celebrating the One-Year Anniversary of the Marrakesh Treaty

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

One year ago, on June 28, 2013, at a diplomatic conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, the World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO ) agreed on a historic international copyright exception for people with print disabilities. Thus far, more than 75 countries have signed the Treaty, and in June India became the first country to ratify it.

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Ratify Marrakesh!

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

The United States Senate has a terrific opportunity to expand opportunity The United States Senate has just been presented with the ratification package for the Marrakesh Treaty. The creation of Bookshare was made possible because of an enlightened copyright law exception. law with the Treaty language.

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Reply Comments on the Proposed Treaty for Access to Copyrighted Works

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

We filed the following comments to the Copyright Office's request for comments on issues about access for people with print disabilities. Many of the comments critical of the proposed treaty come from parties that object in principle to copyright exceptions, rather than having a direct stake in the issue at hand.

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We Have a Treaty…and It’s Great!

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

I’ve been actively advocating for an international copyright exception model that would greatly benefit people with disabilities, as anyone who has read my blog over the years can attest! copyright exception. We were worried that a bad treaty might even negatively affect our ability to serve our users in the United States.

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Commercial Availability: The Poison Pill for Marrakesh Treaty Implementation

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

That’s the lobbying position of some companies in the intellectual property field when implementing the new Marrakesh Copyright Treaty. Our experience successfully building Bookshare under the United States copyright exception, which has no such commercial availability limitation, informs this strong opinion.

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Benetech's Statement to the Treaty Delegates in Marrakech

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

We have 197,000 books available in the United States today, and serve 250,000 people , mainly in the United States, but also in 40 other countries. a11y Marrakech exceptions accessibility print disabilities blind copyright dyslexia SCCR libraries publishing WIPO Reading Rights Coalition commerciality'

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What is in the Treaty of Marrakesh?

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

First, it makes creating a national domestic copyright exception an obligation of countries that ratify the Treaty. Second, the Treaty allows for easier import and export of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works. How Does the Treaty Meet this Goal? It does that in two main ways.

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