It is Tuesday, November 4, 2008, and the WIPO SCCR will hear from Judith Sullivan on copyright limitations and exceptions for the blind.

Judith Sullivan begins with a formal presentation of her February 2007 WIPO Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for the Visually Impaired (SCCR/15/7). The presentation was quite good, and helpful, and followed the slides that WIPO has on its web page.

ONCE, the National Organization of the Spanish Blind, has written to the Spanish government requesting the support for the WBU WIPO treaty proposal.

ONCE argues that although Spain has a good exception for the blind, the WBU proposal will allow other governments to amend their copyright laws in a similar manner and that this proposal will also have benefits for the trans-border distribution of works. The letter highlights that the WBU treaty proposal will allow the creation of a global platform for the distribution of accessible documents.

At least sixteen non-governmental organizations from India representing the blind, the visual impaired, the disabled and the public interest sent a petition to India’s Registrar of Copyrights on November 3, 2008 expressing their support for the World Blind Union proposal for a WIPO Treaty for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons. Here is the letter below in full.

Mr. G. R. Raghavender

I’m in Geneva at WIPO for the 17th SCCR meeting. The first two days have presentations of four WIPO studies of copyright limitations and exceptions. Each study gets a half day. The first presentation was by Sam Ricketson.

WIPO Study on Limitations and Exceptions of Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Environment, (SCCR/9/7), April 5, 2003. prepared by Mr. Sam Ricketson, Professor of Law, University of Melbourne and Barrister, Victoria, Australia

The Ricketson presentation was very clear.

I have been asked to elaborate on the relationship between the Medical Innovation Prize Fund (S.2210, 110th Congress) and the WTO TRIPS Agreement.

For centuries, innovation inducement prizes have been suggested as a mechanism to stimulate investments in a wide range of topics. (See, for example, Selected Innovation Prizes and Reward Programs, KEI Research Note 2008:1). During most of this period, the patent system has also existed.

The Chilean National Blind Organization has sent this letter to the Chilean government requesting the support to support the WBU WIPO treaty proposal.

Santiago, 29 de Octubre de 2008.

Sr. Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Don Alejandro Foxley Rioseco
Presente

Estimado Señor Ministro,

William New of IP-Watch offers a perspicacious insight into WIPO’s upcoming Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights in his piece entitled Participants Ready Agendas For New-Look WIPO Copyright Committee.

The DAISY consortium has published an article on the proposed WIPO treaty. In says, in part:

Larry Lessig has writen a blog post on the Google Books settlement. Lessig starts by saying “this is a good deal that could be the basis for something really fantastic,” and then elaborates, noting how important will be the governance of the new non-profit registry. At the end, Larry trashes the legislative proposal for an orphan works act:

Larry Lessig has writen a blog post on the Google Books settlement. Lessig starts by saying “this is a good deal that could be the basis for something really fantastic,” and then elaborates, noting how important will be the governance of the new non-profit registry. At the end, Larry trashes the legislative proposal for an orphan works act:

According to a note sent to KEI, CNIB in Canada considers the WBU proposal for a WIPO Treaty for the reading disabled to be “the most critical component of achieving true equality through the development of a ‘Global Library’!. This is a letter that Jim Sanders, the President and Chief Executive Officer of CNIB, sent to the Canada delegation to WIPO.

In a letter to the Australian delegation to the WIPO SCCR, Vision Australia expressed its support for the World Blind Union’s proposal for a WIPO Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons. The text of the letter is available here:
http://www.keionline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=212

Letter that Tiflolibros has sent to the governments of Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador and Cuba requesting them to support the WBU proposal for a WIPO treaty for blind, visually impaired and disabled persons.

El 28 de Octubre del 2008, Chris Friend de la Union Mundial de Ciegos envió una carta al Director General de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI) con una propuesta para un Tratado de la OMPI para los ciegos, las personas con deficiencias visuales y otras personas con discapacidad para la lectura.

La carta de la Union Mundial de Ciegos a la OMPI esta disponible aqui

Siva Vaidhyanathan writes his initial reaction to the Google Book/publisher settlement. Among his conclusions: