In a February 2009 article, I described why we need a Word Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaty for people with reading disabilities and why the US delegation at WIPO should support the WBU proposal and even become a leading force promoting it in its new form, a proposal by the governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay tabled at WIPO in May 2009. It would certainly be consistent with US historical and current practices, as many would agree that the U.S. has done well with public policies that positively affect members of the disabled communities.
Furthermore, during the US electoral campaign, in April 2008, President Barack Obama wrote:
We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination…policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities. (April 11, 2008)
These words, especially “we must build a world free of unnecessary barriers” gave high hopes to many, especially to people working on The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the UN.
This Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. It is already well-known as the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and is the first human rights convention to be open for signature by regional integration organizations.
According to the UN Convention website:
The Convention marks a “paradigm shift” in attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities. It takes to a new height the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol came into force on May 3, 2008. On July 30, 2009, in the words of Kareem Dale, Special Assistant, The White House, “the United States join the 141 other countries that have signed this Convention in pursuit of a more just world.”
We all applauded when the US finally joined a Convention aiming to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with others. And while it is clearly a great and important convention on its own merit, it is also essential in its relation with the WIPO proposal for sharing accessible formats of copyrighted works for blind, visually impaired and other reading disabilities persons.
There are at least 3 articles, namely 9, 30 and 32 specifically related to the WIPO proposal. Article 9 deals with a broad range of accessibility issues, Article 30 focuses on access to culture an Article 32 on international cooperation.
Here are the most relevant excerpts:
Article 9 – Accessibility
1. To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:
SNIP
b) Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services.
2. States Parties shall also take appropriate measures:
SNIP
f) To promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities to ensure their access to information;
g) To promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet;
h) To promote the design, development, production and distribution of accessible information and communications technologies and systems at an early stage, so that these technologies and systems become accessible at minimum cost.Article 30 – Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport
1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to take part on an equal basis with others in cultural life, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities:
a) Enjoy access to cultural materials in accessible formats;
b) Enjoy access to television programmes, films, theatre and other cultural activities, in accessible formats;
SNIP
2. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to enable persons with disabilities to have the opportunity to develop and utilize their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of society.
3. States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance with international law, to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials.
SNIPArticle 32 – International cooperation
1. States Parties recognize the importance of international cooperation and its promotion, in support of national efforts for the realization of the purpose and objectives of the present Convention, and will undertake appropriate and effective measures in this regard, between and among States and, as appropriate, in partnership with relevant international and regional organizations and civil society, in particular organizations of persons with disabilities. Such measures could include, inter alia:
a) Ensuring that international cooperation, including international development programmes, is inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities;
b) Facilitating and supporting capacity-building, including through the exchange and sharing of information, experiences, training programmes and best practices;
c) Facilitating cooperation in research and access to scientific and technical knowledge;
d) Providing, as appropriate, technical and economic assistance, including by facilitating access to and sharing of accessible and assistive technologies, and through the transfer of technologies.
We are now at the eve of an important meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) at WIPO. Per the Conclusions of SCCR 18 , the first copyright treaty that would benefit people with disabilities will be on the agenda of the next SCCR (December 14-18, 2009).
Will any country of Group B[*] (of which most have good national exceptions and many have already ratified the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities) support it and if not, why not?
The people with disabilities and the public deserve a clear answer.
*Group B or the “Developed or industrialized countries group” at WIPO include the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Europe Union, Japan, Turkey, Israel, Norway, Switzerland and the Holy See.