During the current SCCR 17 discussions on copyright limitations and exceptions, some delegates are unfamiliar with the longstanding efforts to engage WIPO delegates in this issue. Here are some rough notes of *some* of the times when this issue has been discussed at WIPO.
2002
WIPO SCCR 7
Geneva, May 13 to 17, 2002
REPORT
143. The representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) welcomed the consideration of other issues by the SCCR. The topic of fair use in copyright and related rights deserved special attention. Consumers such as libraries, schools and disabled persons, such as the visually-impaired, had an equally valid interest in having access to protected material. He reminded the Committee that some national legislation in developing countries did not include exceptions to copyright and related rights to facilitate blind people’s access to work. He asked WIPO to include that aspect in its legislative advice to developing countries. Also, material in electronic form could easily be transferred between different countries, but that was not possible for legal reasons. That meant unnecessary duplication of work. Another issue was the application of technological measures of protection that hindered the digital modification of content to make it accessible for disabled persons. He asked for WIPO’s support in studying these issues.
2003
WIPO SCCR 10
2003 WIPO Press Release:
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2003/wipo_pr_2003_366.html
MEETING FOCUSES ON ACCESS TO DIGITAL CONTENT BY VISUALLY IMPAIRED
A meeting held at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva on November 3, 2003 focused on how the visually impaired can access copyrighted materials in the on-line world in a legally-acceptable way. The meeting reviewed the current situation regarding the provision of copyrighted works to visually impaired people, and considered the technical, economic and legal aspects of ensuring access by the blind and partially sighted to written works in the on-line environment. The meeting on digital content for the visually impaired took place in conjunction with WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), meeting in Geneva from November 3 to 5, 2003.
http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/meetings/2003/digvi_im/pdf/digvi_im_03_mann.pdf
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights
INFORMATION MEETING ON DIGITAL CONTENT FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
3 November, 2003
Presentation by the World Blind Union (WBU)
"Thus, WBU also calls for the creation of international agreements which would allow the unhindered transfer of accessible material created in one country to blind and partially sighted people in another country. Bilateral
or multi-lateral agreements may be the first step. The dream is an international accord backed by WIPO and all its members."
http://www3.wcl.american.edu/cni/0311/34951.html
WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).
November 3-4, 2003. Our notes from that meeting:
"The day began with an informational session on the problems facing the blind, and in particular, the proposals by organizations for the visually impaired to have global exceptions to copyrights in order to reverse engineer work, and create products such as Braille, large type, or audio performances of works, and to have the ability to export such works across borders, including via the Internet. The publishers opposed these efforts."
2004
SCCR 12
STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Twelfth Session
Geneva, November 17 to 19, 2004
REPORT
The Delegation of Chile referred to its proposal in document SCCR/12/3 and pointed out that . . . As to handicapped people, such as those suffering from visual, aural or intellectual impairments, the lack or shortage of information material in appropriate formats for those persons could hamper the exercise of essential rights of access to culture and education. Finally, as regards distance education, little national legislation contained exceptions concerning distance educational activities with the use of digital means, including digital networks. . . . The Delegation referred to the studies, documents and activities prepared and organized by the International Bureau in 2002 and 2003, particularly the WIPO Study on Limitations and Exceptions of Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Environment, prepared by Professor Sam Ricketson, and the Information Meeting on Digital Content for the Visually Impaired, which took place on November 3, 2003. . . It also referred to document SCCR/8/2, a Short Description of Possible Subjects for Future Review by the Standing Committee, where the issue of limitations and exceptions had been expressly included. However, the Delegation considered that it was necessary to go further and to prioritize the work of the SCCR to open a space to discuss limitations and exceptions specifically for the aforesaid beneficiaries, with a view to facilitating understanding on that issue and in order to learn from successful examples at national level in order to make progress towards achieving consensus on minimum international standards.
The Delegation of Egypt welcomed the proposal made the Delegation of Chile and stated that the discussion on copyright exceptions for the three categories of beneficiaries mentioned in it was of great importance. It recalled that during the Information Meeting on Digital Content for the Visually Impaired in November 2003 some proposals regarding exceptions for visually impaired had been put forward.
The representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) stated the proposal by the Delegation of Chile was motivated by a concern to ensure fairness. All delegations believed that authors and creative industries should be protected, but restrictive copyright laws could hamper the development of culture and education and could work against the interests of the society. He commended the number of WIPO initiatives that supported the aspirations of blind and partially sighted people in the field of copyright, already mentioned by preceding delegates, including the new model provision for the visually impaired in the WIPO Draft Copyright Law, the preparation of a study that targeted the issue of digital rights management and the needs of the visually impaired and distance education, and a study on national exceptions for the visually impaired. He believed that the issue of copyright exceptions for the visually impaired along with other issues proposed would benefit from greater momentum and priority within the SCCR deliberations in a very proactive rather than reactive way. A level of harmonization on the above legal exceptions needed to be achieved, in order to facilitate international transfer of copyrighted material that had been modified in order to be accessible by the visually impaired. Such harmonization would be of great benefit to developing countries, whose content production sometimes was relatively small. Finally, he stated that there were many alternative ways that the issues proposed could be tackled. Some of those would be that WIPO provided technical advice or organized training sessions on the matter, among others.
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/a2k/2005-June/000473.html
2005
WIPO Development Agenda
WBU communication, 21 June 2005
The World Blind Union made a general statement during the 2nd WIPO intersessional on 21st June. We had also hoped to comment on specific proposals during the course of the final day, but were not called before the lunch break and had to leave before the meeting resumed in the afternoon. In both cases we were using notes rather than a script, but pasted below is a summary of what we said and what we would have said.
This has also been sent to the WIPO secretariat in the forlorn hope that the Chair might read it!
WIPO Intersessional Meeting on Development Agenda.
Statements by the World Blind Union.
1. Paraphrase of submission made to Intersessional Meeting on 21st June 2005, by David Mann, world Blind Union.
There are an estimated 180 million blind and partially sighted people in the World. Much of this sight loss is preventable, and affordable medicines would contribute to prevention. Prevention would not only benefit the individuals but support the economic development of the countries in which they live.
We are very disappointed that there is so little reference to disabled people in most of the papers submitted to the Intersessional Meeting. Disabled people must be included in WIPO's Development Agenda.
Blind and partially sighted people will contribute to economic development if educated and if employed. Copyright restrictions without appropriate and adequate exceptions hinder the development of the individual and the country in which s/he lives. Lack of agreements on the international transfer of material modified for access by blind and partially sighted people also hinders the economic development of both individual and society. Poorly designed or poorly applied technological protection measures impede access by those having to use assistive technology, and so also hinder the development of both individual and society.
The papers submitted by distinguished delegations contain many proposals for research or other studies. These will be worthwhile only if WIPO and its members are prepared to act on their findings and recommendations.
SCCR 13
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/html.jsp?url=http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_13/sccr_13_6.doc
STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS, Thirteenth Session, Geneva, November 21 to 23, 2005
REPORT
The representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) said that the blind, partly sighted and other disabled people experienced widespread social exclusion. One cause was the acute shortage of accessible books and other published material, which was attributable to legal, economic and technological problems, including the territorial nature of copyright exceptions. The latter meant that an exception covered acts only in the country in which it had been enacted. Some examples in that respect had been given at the Information Meeting on education and copyright that had taken place that same day in the morning. WBU called on WIPO to initiate a survey which would, first examine the perceived and real barriers to transfer of accessible material between jurisdictions, second draw authoritative conclusions and, finally, make recommendations on any needs for changes to national laws or international treaties. That initiative fitted well with the WIPO current focus on development issues and the SCCR’s heightened interest in copyright exceptions. International treaties had long tolerated copyright exceptions for the benefit of blind, partly sighted and other disabled people though many countries had yet to enact such exceptions. Over and above this, however, it was vital that material rendered accessible in one jurisdiction was also available in others. If not, there would be little prospect of eradicating the book famine experienced by so many visually impaired people, especially but not exclusively in developing countries where resources were very scarce. WIPO had recognized that problem by including in its draft copyright law a recommendation to permit the distribution within a country material created under copyright exceptions in other countries. That version of the draft law was yet to appear on WIPO website, but it was already actively in use in advising developing countries. However, barriers persisted. Governments, including some very powerful ones, asserted that nobody was authorized to send material created under a copyright exception abroad unless this was explicitly permitted in their own legislation. In other words, they looked for exporting rather than importing rights. Such explicit permission and the WIPO’s recommendations on imports had not been adopted yet by member States. He warmly welcomed the support received in recent years from SCCR delegates and the action already taken by the WIPO Secretariat, and urged those delegates to express support for that specific concrete proposal.
2006
SCCR 14
AUTOMATED RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND COPYRIGHT LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS
prepared by Nic Garnett for the World Intellectual SCCR/14/5, May 1 to 5, 2006
pages 25-34
quote: CHAPTER 3
THE TARGET FIELDS
A. Visually impaired people
1. The perspective of visually impaired people
It is estimated that there are some 180 million blind and partially-sighted people in the world.
The World Blind Union (WBU) has adopted a manifesto21 regarding access to the resources of the information society by visually impaired people. The governing principle of that manifesto is as follows:
"The World Blind Union believes that in the information age access to information is a human right that must be enjoyed by all as a precondition for equal participation in society. This means that socially and economically disadvantaged people in general should be included and blind and partially sighted people in particular. The right to access to information is explicitly recognised by the international community in the UN standard rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities."
SNIP
The WBU argues for the standardisation of exceptions and limitations to meet the needs of visually impaired people as follows:
"We believe [the] exceptions should have the following features:
(a) They should achieve general acceptance and recognition of the principle that creation of alternative format versions from lawfully acquired originals on a non-profit basis with controlled distribution does not constitute an infringement of copyright and therefore requires no permission.
(b) They should enshrine rights rather than merely improving procedures for permission.
(c) They should avoid restriction to particular formats or technologies.31
It is debatable whether this approach would actually lead to an increase in the amount of accessible content available unless some third party with sufficient resources was prepared to take on the task of format conversion. In any event, attempts to change existing law in this way would more than likely be forcefully opposed by many content owners.
So what would the appropriate legal framework contain in this respect? Hopefully, answers to the following:
– What kind of exceptions or compulsory licence mechanisms can be devised in relation to the rights of rightsholders that on the one hand facilitate access to information by the visually impaired and on the other hand enable rightsholders to exploit fully the markets for their works?
– What rights are implicated by the processes – technological or otherwise – used in facilitating access?
– Technological protection measures are now protected by both international and national laws against circumvention. What are the most efficient requirements, including derogations to that protection that can be applied to supporting both the access needs of the visually impaired and the market needs of the rightsholders? – What are the best ways of administering the solutions provided within the law?
SCCR 15
STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS, Fifteenth Session, Geneva, September 11 to 13, 2006
STUDY ON COPYRIGHT LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED, prepared by Judith Sullivan, Consultant, Copyright and Government Affairs
6.6 Import and export of accessible copies made under exceptions
6.6.1 Does this issue need to be addressed?
The World Blind Union, DAISY Consortium and IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section all argue that the ability to move accessible copies between jurisdictions would allow the costs of making accessible copies to be reduced. The effort and cost of making a master copy with appropriate mark-up from which accessible copies can be made would not have to be repeated in each country where that accessible copy is needed. This would in turn enable the number of titles available in accessible formats to be increased as the limited resources that can be devoted to this activity would not be wasted in unnecessary, repetitive work. Right holders are likely to be sympathetic to these arguments as they understand the high costs of making accessible copies. Indeed, for titles that are likely to be read by only a few visually impaired people, the high cost is no doubt part of the reason why there are not more commercially available accessible formats.
……….
The international framework
(b) International treaties and conventions relating to copyright provide a framework that is complex and confusing for those drawing up exceptions to rights for the benefit of visually impaired people, but they do not oblige countries to make any provision. Further debate is desirable on this issue in the long term.
(c) International agreements relevant to the rights of disabled people may in any case require countries to take the needs of visually impaired people into account when framing their copyright laws.
(d) WIPO could facilitate further discussion about copyright and the rights of disabled people as well as developing its draft model law for developing countries in the light of the recommendations in this Study.
Import and export of accessible copies made under exceptions
(k) International conventions do not seem to restrict what provision can be made regarding export and import of accessible copies made under exceptions to copyright. It is very complicated to decide what is currently legal, particularly because the laws of at least two countries need to be considered.
(l) More explicit provision in national laws might be appropriate regarding export and import of accessible copies given the considerable benefit this could bring to visually impaired people, but this could be particularly complicated where countries do not provide international exhaustion of rights. Any provision needs to take into account the needs of right holders as well as any benefits for visually impaired people so as not to deter collaboration to increase world stocks of accessible formats in other ways too.
2008
SCCR 16
STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHTAND RELATED RIGHTS, Sixteenth Session, Geneva, March 10 to 12, 2008
DRAFT REPORT
The Delegation of New Zealand referred to the Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for the Visually Impaired, which had been submitted to the Fifteenth Session of the SCCR (document SCCR/15/7). Generally, New Zealand could endorse the recommendations contained in the study and encouraged further discussions on the topic. In particular, the Delegation would like to highlight the issue of international exchange of accessible formats. It was an important issue for New Zealand as many accessible formats of useful materials were published outside of the country. The most significant problems in New Zealand related to vision-related services. The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind faced difficulties related to the import of accessible format copies from organizations for the visually impaired in other jurisdictions. That was due to the fact that territorial limitations to copyright impact the international distribution of material created under those exceptions. Further work needed to be done to take stock of the often complex legislative situation with regard to copyright exceptions. New Zealand saw particular value in exploring alternatives to the exceptions, particularly in the short- and medium-term, to facilitate the import and export of accessible copies, such as looking at the role WIPO could play in facilitating arrangements that might cover the international exchange of accessible formats as reflected in the recommendation of the Study. . .
The Delegation of Chile thanked the delegations that had expressed support for the joint proposal on exceptions and limitations and responded to some of the questions raised by the Delegations of Egypt, Australia and the United States of America. The proposal would not affect in any of its phases and parts existing international treaties already signed and agreed to by Member States. The expression minimum, mandatory exceptions meant clarifications regarding limitations within the scope allowed for in the existing international treaties. The intention was that, for some specific areas such as the disabled people and the educational community, some minimum elements should be selected from the big amount of possibilities that were available to Member States. The Delegation of the United States of America had made a good point that it had not been provided with evidence on the need to work on stimulating the creation of exceptions and limitations. However, the reports made by WIPO with regard to the availability of works for the blind provided some such evidence. Only around 60 countries in the whole world had exceptions for the blind, and yet the possibility existed under the treaties for having those exceptions. . .
A representative of the World Blind Union (WBU) emphasized the good relationship with WIPO, the SCCR and the many delegations that had championed the causes of visually-impaired people within the copyright context. He referred to the case of a student in Sierra Leone who had spent four years completing his masters degree because of the situation he faced in trying to get accessible text books as a blind student. There was no accessible format of Braille or audio available to him. He had had to pay his own reader to read the text books because there were no grants from the University or the Government. Moreover, his reader could not read at the University library as it was a silent place. He supported the statement made by the Delegation of New Zealand about the difficulties of cross-border exchanges, and the recommendations of the Sullivan report on exceptions for the visually impaired, particularly recommendations G, K, L, and M. He referred to the campaign called “the Global Right to Read Campaign,” to be launched next April 23, as part of the Amsterdam World Book Capital event, which brought together stakeholders and governments. It would be an opportunity to persuade and convince the latter to put in place appropriate exceptions which did not currently exist in 120 countries. He added that publishers should be provided with a full documentation and should be asked their opinion about the implementation of the Sullivan recommendations. . .
A representative of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) . . . urged WIPO to . . . focus on real problems. The World Blind Union had been asking for several years, for example, to the SCCR to address their very real problems in ensuring access to copyrighted works.
A representative of the Electronic Frontier Federation (EFF) stated . . . and limitations, a topic of great interest to many developing and developed countries and of tremendous importance to the visually impaired, libraries and education communities had had no substantial discussion in the Committee since the issue had been submitted by the Delegation of Chile in 2004. There was a high level of urgency about the pressing problems faced by the visually disabled and impaired community, libraries and on-line archives, teachers and students who were trying to harness their potential in digital and cross border education. Member States had now been presented with the choice of alleviating sufferings to the world citizens and tackling the greatest challenge facing the global copyright regime or to invigorate discussions on a treaty that had been drafted to protect broadcasters’ and cablecasters’ investments and which would be causing considerable harm to consumers and innovation.
"Exceptions and limitations
“The basis for deliberations of the SCCR on this item was the proposal made in the present session by Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay, which elaborates further the proposal by the Delegation of Chile (SCCR/13/5). Many of the Delegations who took the floor supported the proposal, emphasized the importance of it and expressed their willingness to participate in the discussions on this issue. Several Delegations underlined the need for speedy action to improve the access of visually impaired persons to protected works.
* The Secretariat was requested to make, in addition to the existing study reports, a study on exceptions and limitations for the benefit of educational activities, including distance education and the trans-border aspect in it.
* The Secretariat was requested to organize, in conjunction with the next session of the SCCR, an informative session on existing and forthcoming studies.
The Delegation of Slovenia, speaking on behalf of the European Community and its member States, announced that it would propose three amendments to the first paragraph in the chapter on exceptions and limitations, the addition of a new paragraph, and a change in paragraph four. Paragraph 1 would read "Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay presented a proposal which elaborates further the proposal by the Delegation of Chile (document SCCR/13/5). Many of the delegations who took the floor supported the proposal in whole, or in part. They emphasized the importance of it and expressed their willingness to participate in the discussion on this issue, and many delegations expressed their interest to focus on an exchange of information on national and regional legislation, and have requested to be given time to study the new proposal. Several delegations underlined the need for speedy action to improve the access of visually impaired persons to protected works".