Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

That’s the lobbying position of some companies in the intellectual property field when implementing the new Marrakesh Copyright Treaty. Libraries for people who are blind or dyslexic are the primary source of accessible books in audio, large print or braille. We simply act to ensure the person who needs an accessible book can get it.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2010

A Policy Update from an engineer, Jim Fruchterman of Benetech June 8, 2010 The international copyright negotiations in Geneva around a proposed Treaty for the Visually Impaired (“TVI”) have been steadily heating up. trade publishers (and some in India and the UK), and over 1,000 international members in 35 countries today.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2015

Twelve years ago, the Fund made its first grant to Benetech, in support of the then newly launched Bookshare , our accessible online library for people with disabilities that get in the way of reading print, including visual impairments and dyslexia. Of course, in India and other developing countries, the gap is even larger.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 7, 2013

have been asking about the Treaty of Marrakesh (formal name: The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities. Ultimately, this community should have equal access to all of the books that are needed for education, employment and social inclusion.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2010

with print disabilities, with more than 70,000 copyrighted works in our library, the majority of which have been created under the US copyright exception by volunteers, mainly people with disabilities themselves, helping each other. • We now have global permissions for around 8,000 copyrighted books out of our 70,000. •

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 27, 2015

We’re doing a ton of work with partners in India , the first country to ratify it, to allow people in India to take full advantage of India’s now-favorable copyright environment. Additionally, we have over 200,000 copyrighted accessible book titles already available in most countries in the world.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

We know, however, that we’ve only scratched the surface of meeting the global need for access to books and information. We’re going to demonstrate what this could look like by piloting Bookshare International at scale in India. The sad truth is that millions of people with print disabilities around the world continue to be left behind.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 22, 2010

Viji, who is from India, received a BA in accounting from Madras University and moved with her husband to the Bay Area. Since Viji was raised in India, she began looking at the educational challenges faced by people from that country. In countries outside the U.S.,

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

Technology currently serves privileged groups through tools that provide access to education, literacy, health, and justice. With Bookshare, our student members can access and read the books they need—in the classroom, at home, and on the go—and have a fair opportunity to succeed at school just like their peers without disabilities.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

We’re operating at the forefront of copyright limitations and exceptions, both in the United States and globally. The recent Indian copyright amendment that creates an exception similar to Section 121 in the United States, which makes it possible for us to set up a Bookshare-style crowd-sourced library in India with local partner NGOs.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 19, 2006

Just after returning from India and Bangladesh, I received word that one of my key contacts and hosts had suddenly passed away. He has been described as the pioneer of Talking Books in India, and had been campaigning for a copyright law change to make it easier to provide access to accessible books.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 6, 2006

I asked the folks there if they knew of less expensive accommodations, since the Taj Palace Hotel where the India Economic Summit was held was fabulous but also more than I'd ever paid per night in the U.S.! The meeting was held at what used to be the Viceroy of India's lodge in New Delhi, and steeped with history.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 3, 2010

Note from Beth: During my trip to India in February, I was introduced to a nonprofit children's book publisher in India, Pratham Books. “It was set up to fill a gap in the market for good quality, reasonably priced children’s books in a variety of Indian languages. India has a reading problem and the problem is two fold.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 22, 2009

Bookshare started as the sharing of copyrighted and public domain books in a central repository authorized by the Chafee Amendment by people with print disabilities for their own use. Bookshare is also picking up steam in India. Our goal is to make the world of books accessible to people who so often find those doors closed.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

Note from Beth: Lately, a question on my mind is whether or not the concept of Networked Nonprofits is a global one as I’ve had the opportunity to share some of the ideas beyond the US borders in Kenya and UK. I think Pratham Books , an NGO in India, is a networked nonprofit. We now use Creative Commons licenses everywhere!

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 7, 2013

The goal of the treaty is to make it possible for people who are blind, or have other print disabilities, to get access to the books they need for education, employment and inclusion in society--no matter where they live. We are at a point where accessibility can and should be the default mode for all books. under a Treaty.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 24, 2015

Met with the UN Foundation about a major grant they are giving us to bring Bookshare to India. I had a joint meeting (both Republicans and Democrats) with the key Senate Judiciary Committee staff who are the copyright experts, and learned a lot about the process. Interviewed several candidates for executive positions at Benetech.

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