Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

The Marrakesh Treaty was signed last year, and now the efforts are ramping up to ratify and implement the Treaty, with the goal of helping overcome the book famine faced by people with print disabilities. WIPO has a mandate from its member states, and is working to address the need to change laws and get more accessible books flowing.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 14, 2009

Last Friday I spent almost two and a half hours in a wide-ranging conversation with Maria Pallante of the Copyright Office (and two other folks whose full names I didn't write down). copyright exemption for serving the print disabled is commonly called the Chafee Amendment: Section 121 of copyright law. copyright law.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 7, 2013

However, as the founder of the Bookshare online library, we have a great deal at stake in how the Treaty gets implemented. The goal of the Treaty is to end the book famine for people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. What’s in it; what does it mean; how does it affect Bookshare members? Works Covered.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 15, 2014

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.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 22, 2009

Guest Blog from Amy McNeely, Bookshare Librarian This past week, April 12th through April 18th, was National Library Week. Every year, the American Library Association picks a different theme for the occasion. This year’s theme was “Worlds connect @ your library.” Bookshare is a unique library. Bookshare is no different.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

The goal of the Treaty is to make a copyright exception for the blind and other people with disabilities that stop them from reading print, and to make import and export of accessible content legal. It’s expensive to make braille books. The biggest challenge for access is that it’s expensive. For example, we run Bookshare in the U.S.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 5, 2013

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! After all, Benetech’s Bookshare initiative is the largest online library serving people with print disabilities in the world. copyright exception.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 7, 2013

Bookshare International Library We’re always thinking about new ways in which Benetech could go deeper and help many more people. Bookshare , our flagship literacy program, is the world’s largest accessible library and currently serves more than 230,000 members with visual and learning disabilities.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 16, 2011

Statement of Benetech to the 22nd Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights at the World Intellectual Property Organization June 15, 2011, Geneva, Switzerland • Greetings from California’s Silicon Valley! Our collection has grown from 70,000 books to almost 110,000 books in the U.S.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 3, 2016

We are joining with our peers in the disability and library community in a joint statement to strongly encourage the Senate to ratify the treaty and for Congress to implement the minor legislative changes recommended as part of the package. The creation of Bookshare was made possible because of an enlightened copyright law exception.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 17, 2015

They include people who are blind, visually impaired, have dyslexia, or have a physical disability that prevents them from reading regular printed books. The Marrakesh Treaty makes it easier for nonprofits, schools, government agencies, and individuals with disabilities to convert inaccessible print books into accessible equivalents.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 24, 2018

Gerry was one of the earliest computer software attorneys, and even wrote one of the first books on the subject. In late 1999, I had just seen the original Napster product, and I knew we had thousands of families scanning the same Harry Potter book on our reading machines for people who were blind or dyslexic.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

The latest session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) just concluded last week. The only way you could import and export books would be directly between organizations, not people.

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Whole Whale

MAY 19, 2023

The DALL·E 2 Prompt Book : This is the OG image prompt library and guide on designing great prompts. ArtHub AI Library : A collection of AI-generated art prompts and a platform for artists to showcase their AI-generated artwork. Prompt Library on Twitter : A Twitter account that shares AI-generated prompts and resources.

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Images Build Library Generation 52

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

OCTOBER 15, 2012

Benetech’s Bookshare library is living proof that real, transformative change happens through partnerships and by helping people unleash their talents and energies. We blew up the old approaches to converting inaccessible books into accessible equivalents. copyright law.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

I was delighted to speak at the November 15th joint plenary session on “The Right to Read” campaign to achieve a world where published books are accessible and available to all individuals who are blind or have other disabilities. This shift is already happening in major markets: Amazon.com now sells more digital books than print books.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 20, 2013

He started Computerized Books for the Blind the year before we started Benetech, and became one of our earliest partners. Even back then, we included information about his service in the box of each Arkenstone Reader because we knew people would rather not have to scan a book before reading it! We hope you’ll join us on this journey.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

When Bookshare was first created, we conceived of the concept of a digital library built by the people who use the library, instead of solely by librarians deciding what people with print disabilities should read. None of the Dorothy Lyons books are in print. None of the Dorothy Lyons books are in print. It wasn't easy!

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

I’m thrilled to share with you some of the recent amazing impact of Bookshare , a Benetech Global Literacy initiative and the largest accessible online library of copyrighted content for people with print disabilities. The majority of our members are U.S.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 30, 2013

Bookshare As followers of this blog know, Benetech's largest social enterprise is the Bookshare online library for people with print disabilities. Our commitment is to provide access to books for those who are unable to read a traditional print format and to do so without harming the economic interests of authors and publishers.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 3, 2010

Source: Pratham Books. 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.

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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. We also hope to lend our Bookshare online library infrastructure to developing world countries not currently able to build their own online library at this time.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 2, 2012

Bookshare, Benetech’s pioneering digital library for people with print disabilities, celebrated its 10th birthday last night with a terrific party that was attended by many of our long-time friends and supporters. copyright law. As a result, we quickly became the largest online library for people with print disabilities.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

I was delighted when Ron Schultz invited me to collaborate with him on his latest book Creating Good Work – The World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs Show How to Build a Healthy Economy. I look forward to continuing the conversation the book has opened. Converting and delivering these accessible books was expensive and time consuming.

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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. Counterproposals have been made, governments have been engaging with rights holders, consumers and NGOs (or not!)

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 3, 2011

In my Fall 2011 President's Update , I mentioned some of our incredible recent achievements in this core program, including the amazing milestones of our Bookshare library. Our innovative approach has revolutionized the traditional library for people with print disabilities. In the U.S.,

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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. This pilot paved the way for our work in the education field.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

Our Bookshare online library is continuing to multiply its impact. 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. What about yet another order of magnitude beyond that?

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Literacy eBook United Kingdom Accessibility 158

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 18, 2006

Direct Link to " Tales from the Public Domain: Bound By Law " Museum, Education, and Library IT networks have special interest or affinity groups on the topic of copyright and fair use. Note: She isn't ranting about the above book and materials). Amalyah Keshet.

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Copyright Museum Law Library 50

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 7, 2010

An Insider Reveals How the Latest Hot Books Are Added to Bookshare’s Collection of Accessible Titles A Guest Beneblog by Liz Halperin After working for many years as a volunteer for Bookshare, I became a paid proofreader for the collection about two years ago. Since I was there to witness it, I want to tell you how it happens.

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Tech Soup

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Content created by TechSoup is available to reuse by any nonprofit or library (for free!), Creative Commons is a charity that champions reduced restrictions on copyrighted work by creating licenses that make it clear how material can be used, changed, and shared. We hope you like our content, and we want you to use it!

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

In particular, electronic books (or e-books) offer the possibility of dramatically improving access for students with disabilities – and for disadvantaged children everywhere. This is because e-books (unlike traditional print) can easily be rendered in many different ways and presented in the format that best suits one’s needs.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 6, 2006

We had a wide array of key people at the meeting, including the head of IT at the university, another blind professor, top librarians, the heads of NGOs serving the blind and the head of library services for the blind [check titles]. Plus, the demand for English accessible books is especially acute at the University level.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

We’re against piracy, and have made commitments to authors and publishers to encourage compliance with copyright law. Stopping fund raising and subscription revenue for Bookshare, the largest online library for people who have print disabilities. Bookshare is an online library for people who can’t read standard print books.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2016

I just read the new book from Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation, and strategy guru Roger Martin, Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works. The book is an expanded version of their seminal article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review from 2007, “Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition.”

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Museum 2.0

APRIL 1, 2010

While some aspects are quite technical and specific, it should be useful for anyone considering writing a book for a niche audience. I decided to self-publish The Participatory Museum for four reasons: OPENNESS: I wanted the flexibility to license and distribute the book using an open structure to promote sharing. Why Self-Publish?

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