The SCCR has seems to have finished its work on the text for a possible treaty on copyright exceptions for persons who are blind or have other disabilities, and earlier than expected. The new text distributed to delegates is 25 pages long (attached below), and includes several articles with no brackets. There are many differences to be resolved. The question is, will WIPO proceed with a diplomatic conference in 2013? At this point, it appears so, but nothing is set in stone. The strategy seems to move forward with the text, and revise it at subsequent meetings, including one right before December 17, but to try to get agreement to schedule the diplomatic conference.
At 3:30pm, the SCCR draft conclusion is to hold an informal meeting of the SCCR on December 15-16, to “advance text based work and prepare a revised version of (SCCR/25/2)… to be evaluated by the Extraordinary General Assembly, which meetings December 17 and 18.
The Extraordinary GA will decide on whether to recommend a diplomatic conference in 2013.
The SCCR is still using the term “instrument” or instrument/treaty rather than “treaty,” and the term “print disabilities.” The term print disabilities may survive, as the USA has knocked out audiovisual works and related rights and eliminated deaf persons as beneficiaries, but instrument/treaty will soon be treaty, as the USA is completely isolated on the nature of the instrument.