KEI Research Note 2007:5
Timeline: Addressing Copyright Related Barriers to Overcoming Reading Disabilities
This is a work in progress
1824
Louis Braille invented a system of reading and writing by means of raised dots.
1921
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1824
Louis Braille invented a system of reading and writing by means of raised dots.
1921
Continue Reading
In the run up to WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights meeting from December 14 to December 18, 2009 (SCCR 19), there is a spate of activity in Europe, Egypt, India and the United States related to the right to read, a treaty for reading disabled persons, orphan works, limitations and exceptions to copyright and norm setting. Continue Reading
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. Continue Reading
May 28th, 2007 by James Love
To provide some context to discussions on the term of protection for copyright and related rights, the following note sumarizes on the basic provisions in various multilateral copyright and related rights treaties, on the topics of minimum terms and formalities. … Continue Reading
In May 2009, at the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) 18th session, the governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay formally tabled a proposal to WIPO endorsing the World Blind Union’s Treaty for Reading Disabled Persons.
KEI’s work on limitations and exceptions to the exclusive rights of copyright owners covers a wide range of issues, in many different fora. KEI has worked on reading disabilities, education, libraries, the relationship between copyright L&E and technical protection measures or DRM technologies, the scope of fair use, and rights of creative communities to reuse and re-purpose works, access to out of print or orphaned works, compulsory licensing of copyrighted works, the control of excessive pricing, and limits on the use of contracts that undermine user rights. Continue Reading
TACD has issued a resolution on copyright terms, and measures to mitigate the harm from excessive terms. The TACD Press release follows:
KEI has a page that summarizes the minimum terms of protection for copyright and related rights in multilateral treaties. The most binding constraints are those included in the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Those constraints are as follows:
Most literary and artistic works protected by copyright under the Berne would have a minimum copyright term calculated on the basis of the life of the author plus 50 years.
Over the past several weeks there have been a several cases where some well motivated and knowledgeable persons about copyright policy have expressed criticism of an effort by WIPO to negotiate a treaty for persons who are blind or have other reading disabilities, on the grounds that this is not ambitious enough, and a larger all inclusive treaty on limitations and exceptions should be the target.