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Benetech's Statement to the Treaty Delegates in Marrakech

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Benetech, my nonprofit organization operates Bookshare, the largest online library dedicated to serving blind and print disabled people. Our library is unusual, in that our charter is to serve all people with print disabilities of the world, not just those in our country.

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

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

The print book doesn’t work for people who are blind, partially sighted, dyslexic, have physical limitations, people who haven’t learned to read, or people who can’t read the particular language of a specific book is written in. I believe it is a combination of copyright exceptions and business model innovations. We can do better!

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Ratify Marrakesh!

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

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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What is in the Treaty of Marrakesh?

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

However, as the founder of the Bookshare online library, we have a great deal at stake in how the Treaty gets implemented. First, it makes creating a national domestic copyright exception an obligation of countries that ratify the Treaty. What’s in it; what does it mean; how does it affect Bookshare members?

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Bookshare without Borders: #1/3

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

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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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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