Thank you Mr Chairman,
I represent the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), which works to serve the 2 million people with sight loss in UK.
As part of this work, RNIB has a library of some 40,000 books in audio, large print and Braille, which we distribute to reading disabled people.
Most accessible books are made by specialist organisations like ours, even in cases where publishers provide licenses or the source files. These specialist organisations have limited resources, and are very often charities.
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The National Organization of Spanish Blind Persons, ONCE is the Spanish institution providing services to blind and visually impaired persons. This is their statement at WIPO SCCR 19, in both English and Spanish:
In Spanish
La Organización Nacional de Ciegos de España (ONCE) agradece la oportunidad de tomar la palabra en esta importante sesion del SCCR para pedir el apoyo a la propuesta de tratado de la Union Mundial de Ciegos.
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Information for the SCCR at WIPO 14-18 December, 2009.
Mr Chairman,
I would like to take this opportunity, in the framework of our discussions on exceptions and limitations, to inform you about what the European Commission has been doing over the past year and a half and is preparing for the future.
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12:45 pm Geneva, Switzerland.
Today, December 15, 2009 at the 19th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights at WIPO, member states started to consider the proposed treaty to facilitate access to copyright materials for people with reading disabilities. Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay, the sponsors of the treaty briefly presented their proposal. We then had a break for lunch and attended an informal session. On the table right outside of the main room, I found a joint statement dated of SCCR 17 (November 2008) opposing the treaty.
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This is day one of a five day meeting of the WIPO SCCR, being held in Geneva. The main topic of discussion this week will be copyright limitations and exceptions.
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We are distributing this letter (in English and Spanish, with Tiflolibros Argentina) to writers, journalists and authors who support the World Blind Union WIPO treaty proposal to improve access to books in formats accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired or have other disabilities. If you are a writer and you are interested in signing it, contact judit.rius@keionline.org
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http://www.copyright.gov/docs/sccr/comments/2009/reply-2/
Organization/Comment
1 Meredith Filak
2 Malini Aisola, Knowledge Ecology International, and Meredith Filak
3 Pablo Lecuona, Tiflolibro
4 Brad Huther, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
5 Dan Pescod, Royal National Institute of Blind People
6 Nirmita Narasimhan, Centre for Internet and Society
7 Margaret Chase, Radio Reading Service
8 Robert Martinengo, Center for Accessible Publishing
9 Steven M. Rothstein, Perkins School for the Blind
10 Harold Martin, WVTF Public Radio
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December 4, 2009
Maria Pallante
Associate Register for Policy &
International Affairs
U.S. Copyright Office
Re: Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comments
on the Topic of Facilitating Access to Copyrighted
Works for the Blind and Other Persons with Disabilities
Dear Maria:
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Attached are several reply comments to the Copyright Office and the USPTO regarding the WIPO draft proposal to facilitate access to copyrighted works for persons, who are blind or have other reading disabilities, in response to the Federal Register Notice of October 13, 2009.
The deadline for filing was Friday, December 4, 2009. Eventually the Copyright Office will publish all of the reply comments on the Internet, and we will provide a link.
We now have comments received from various parties, including:
After attending the three day WTO Ministerial meeting in Geneva, I took the non-stop United Airlines Flight back to Washington, DC. On the airplane were a number of U.S. government officials including the head of USTR, Ambassador Ron Kirk. I had a chance to talk to Kirk about the secrecy of the ACTA agreement. He said the ACTA text would be made public, “when it is finished.” I told him it that was too late, and the public wanted the text out now, before it is too late to influence anything.
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