KEI collection of various interviews, statements and news clips from the December 17-18, 2012 WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly that approved a June 2013 diplomatic conference to negotiate a treaty on copyright exceptions for persons with certain disabilities.
Video Interviews
Video interviews from the WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly, after reaching a landmark decision to:
convene a Diplomatic Conference on limitations and exceptions for visually impaired persons/persons with print disabilities to be held in June 2013. The mandate of this Conference is to negotiate and adopt a treaty on limitations and exceptions for visually impaired persons/persons with print disabilities (pursuant to the draft text in SCCR/25/2).
Interviews that took place on December 18, 2012, immediately after the decision was made, and were conducted by KEI:
- Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO
- Ambassador C. Trevor Clarke, the Assistant Director General, Culture and Creative Industries Sector of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
- Dan Pescod, WBU
- Jens Bammel, Secretary General of the International Publishers Association
- Carlo Scollo Lavizzari, International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM)
- Mokhtar Warida, Egypt, Africa Group, and Dan Pescod, WBU
- Ambassador Darlington Mwape, Zambia
- Santiago Cevallos, Ecuador
- Natasha Gooneratne, Sri Lanka
- Mayara Leal, Brazil.
- Alexandra Grazioli, Switzerland
- Rodrigo Bardoneschi, Argentina
- James Love, KEI
- Thiru Balasubramaniam, KEI
December 18, 2012. WIPO’s official video of the decision: WIPO paves way for treaty to benefit persons with print disabilities
NGO, Government and WIPO releases and statements
- December 17, 2012. National Federation of the Blind Applauds U.S. Support for Legally Binding International Instrument to Put More Accessible Books in the Hands of the Blind Worldwide Press Release
- December 18, 2012. KEI Statement on WIPO decision to hold June 2013 diplomatic conference for treaty on copyright exceptions for disabilities
- December 18, 2012.WORLD BLIND UNION (WBU) press release .
- December 18, 2012.WIPO Advances Toward Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Persons with Print Disabilities, Morocco Offers to Host Diplomatic Conference WIPO press release, December 18, 2012,PR/2012/727
- December 18, 2012. WIPO member states call for treaty for blind people to be finished in 2013, National Access Alliance press release 18 December 2012. Quotes Inclusive Planet, India.
- December 18, 2012. Carolina Rossini, Finally: Long Awaited Progress on WIPO Exceptions and Limitations Treaty for the Blind, EFF.
- December 2012. Access for the Print Disabled: LCA Participates in International Discussions; WIPO Advances toward Treaty. ARL.
- December 19, 2012.Statement of Australia Attorney-General Nicola Roxon on WIPO treaty on Print Disabilities
- December 22, 2012. EIFL welcomes groundbreaking WIPO decision
KEI blogs for the December 17-18 negotiations
- December 18, 2012. KEI Statement on WIPO decision to hold June 2013 diplomatic conference for treaty on copyright exceptions for disabilities
- Proposed Extraordinary WIPO General Assembly Decision Text: 9:20 PM-17 December 2012
- Draft WIPO EGA decision, around 430pm
- WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly: Statement of Venezuela (references European Union’s Nobel Peace Prize)
- WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly: Statement of Egypt on behalf of the Africa Group in favor of Treaty for the Blind
- WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly: Morocco announces its candidacy to host a Diplomatic Conference on the Treaty for the Blind
- USA statement at WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly, wants later “final review” of negotiating text, treaty status uncertain
- WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly: Statement of Benin on behalf of Least-Developed Countries in favor of Treaty for the Blind
- WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly: Statement of Development Agenda Group in support of Treaty for the Blind
Press Coverage, other blogs
- December 15, 2012. Chris Friend. Let the Blind Read. Project Syndicate.
- December 16, 2012. William New. US IP Officials Blast NGOs In Geneva, IP-Watch.Org
- December 17, 2012. Jina Moore, Closed Book Why won’t the Obama administration back a treaty to make reading more accessible for the visually impaired? Foreign Policy.
- December 17, 2012. Catherine Saez, WIPO Members En Route To Diplomatic Conference On Treaty For The Blind, IP-Watch.Org
- December 18, 2012. Catherine Saez, WIPO To Negotiate Treaty For The Blind In June; ‘Still Some Distance To Travel’. IP-Watch.Org.
- December 18, 2012. James Nurton, WIPO’s General Assembly has agreed to convene a diplomatic conference next year to finalise a treaty to improve access to copyrighted works for visually impaired people (VIPs) and people with print disabilities. Managing Internet IP.
- December 19, 2012. Negotiations for Visually Impaired Treaty Get Green Light at WIPO. Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 16 • Number 44.
- December 19, 2012. Marjolein van der Heide. WIPO convenes diplomatic conference on treaty to facilitate access to copyrighted works for visually impaired persons. Future of Copyright.
- December 19, 2012. Mike Masnick. Slight Progress Made On Treaty To Help The Blind Not Get Screwed Over By Copyright: from the but-still-a-long-way-to-go dept, TechDirt
- December 19, 2012. Animesh Chatterjee, WIPO is about make a treaty for providing reading ability to the blind and other disable persons. Lex Protector
- December 19, 2012, Carrie Russell. One step toward ending the book famine. District Dispatch.
- December 20, 2012. Ramya Kannan. International treaty to make books accessible to the blind. The Hindu.
- December 20, 2012. Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, Disability groups in India welcome progress on treaty for blind persons, Times of India
- December 2012. Landmark WIPO Decision: Will 2013 be the ‘Year of the Treaty’?. Daisy Planet
- December 21, 2012. Swaraj Paul Barooah ‘Not just a Trophy Treaty’. Spicy IP.