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The Case for Copyright Exceptions and Fair Use

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

The next time you set your digital device of choice to record your favorite show so you can watch it whenever you want, take a moment to be thankful that you’re protected from lawsuits from the entertainment industry. It also underscores just how critical a balanced copyright law is for technology innovation. of America v.

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Upholding The Social Bargain: Bookshare and Copyright Compliance

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Benetech's largest social enterprise is the Bookshare online library for people who are blind or otherwise disabled when it comes to reading print. copyright law. The publishing industry and disability organizations both agreed on this provision of copyright law. At Benetech, our commitment is to uphold that social deal.

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Bringing Millions of Books to Billions of People: Making the Book Truly Accessible

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

I believe it is a combination of copyright exceptions and business model innovations. For the content of books, this flexibility is expressed in ideas like public domain, when the copyright owned by the author or publisher ends at some point. I love to hark back to Thomas Jefferson’s take on ideas. “He My idea was completely legal!

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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. Libraries for people who are blind or dyslexic are the primary source of accessible books in audio, large print or braille. That would pretty much defeat the purpose of having a library.

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Fascinating Meeting at the Copyright Office

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

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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Why Your Country Should Ratify the Marrakesh Treaty

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

This historic international copyright exception treaty paves the way for a future in which people who cannot read regular printed materials can have equal access to books, regardless of where they live. The publishing industry has come out in favor of the treaty. There is still much to do, however, before the treaty takes full effect.

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Increasing Accessible Publishing Globally

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

The third movement is the effort to make copyright exceptions a global norm , thus enabling easy import and export of accessible materials. Benetech’s Bookshare is the world’s largest accessible online library dedicated to serving people with print disabilities. thanks to our domestic copyright exception.