On Monday, 25 May 2009, the governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay submitted a proposal to the to the 18th Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) entitled, “Proposal by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay, relating to Limitations and Exceptions: Treaty proposed by the World Blind Union (WBU)”. The document reference number for this Treaty proposal of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay is SCCR/18/5 and the web link for this document is: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_18/sccr_18_5.pdf. The English text of this country proposal was distributed to SCCR Member States and Observers on Tuesday, 26 May 2009. The French and Spanish versions of the Treaty proposal are expected to be available today, and discussion of the Treaty proposal will commence in today’s morning session.
The Governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay have taken the WBU Treaty text distributed to WIPO last November 2008 and adopted it as their own text; they have submitted the Treaty proposal to the WIPO SCCR as a basis for negotiation.
Here below is the cover letter submitted by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay.
1. The Permanent Mission of Brazil to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office in Geneva and other international organizations and the Permanent Mission of Paraguay to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva present their compliments to the International Bureau and have the honor to present the attached proposal to be discussed during the upcoming eighteenth session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, under Item 5 of the Agenda (”Exceptions and limitations”), as an example of norm-setting activity in the field of exceptions and limitations to copyrights, among those presented in document SCCR/16/2: for persons with disabilities, libraries and archives, educational activities and to foster technological innovations.
2. The attached document consists of the Treaty proposed by the World Blind Union (WBU), which presents possible ways and means of facilitating and enhancing access to protected works for the blind, visually impaired, and other reading disabled persons. Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay recognize the merit of dealing without delay, but with careful deliberation, with limitations and exceptions that would allow people with disabilities, such as the visually impaired, to access, publish and distribute works that are accessible to them.
3. By undertaking such an initiative, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) would act in accordance with the efforts undertaken by the United Nations to address the need for enhancing, as foreseen in document SCCR/16/2, access to knowledge for the most vulnerable or socially prioritized sectors. Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay also consider that the establishment of formal negotiations on limitations and exceptions would contribute to the broader aims of the Development Agenda, particularly the ones related to norm-setting, as foreseen in document SCCR/16/2.
4. The Permanent Mission of Brazil to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office in Geneva and other international organizations and the Permanent Mission of Paraguay to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva avail themselves of this opportunity to renew to the International Bureau the assurances of their highest consideration.
Geneva, May 25, 2009