Professional Documents
Culture Documents
European Commission
DG Internal Market and Services
2, Rue de Spa, B-1040 Brussels
Dear Commissioner,
The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) strongly supports the October 28,
2008 proposal by the World Blind Union (WBU) to the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)
for a “WIPO Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other
Reading Disabled Persons”.
New information technologies promise to vastly expand both the number of works
available in accessible formats and the ability of vulnerable consumers, such as
people with reading disabilities, to use those works.
Since 2003, the WBU has petitioned the WIPO SCCR for action to address their need
for global harmonization of limitations and exceptions for the blind, and to ensure that
accessible formats of copyrighted works that are created under such limitations
and exceptions can be exported and imported, in order to facilitate both the
global distribution of accessible works over the Internet, and investment in
services essential for this distribution.
In order to allow interested persons to provide their views, the United States
Copyright Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office have
published a Notice of Inquiry1 seeking comment on several focused topics related to
the provision of access to copyrighted works for blind or other persons with
disabilities.
We would like to know if the European Commission has replied to the invitation
from WIPO to share information on this topic, in view of the preparation of the
next SCCR meeting. The publication of the European Green Paper on Copyright
in the Knowledge Economy showed that the Commission intended to launch the
debate of access to copyrighted works. However, the issue of copyright limitations
and exceptions applied to visually impaired persons, on the very concrete basis of
the WBU Treaty proposal, would deserve specific attention.
1 http://www.copyright.gov/docs/sccr.
2 TACD Resolution on WIPO Negotiations on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions, with Special
Reference to the Needs of Visually Impaired Persons and Access to Orphan works, adopted July 2008
(attached).
While the SCCR of course is not obligated to embrace the exact proposal that has
been presented by the WBU, it does have an obligation to address their core
concerns. How can the disabled community realistically achieve “full and equal”
access to copyrighted works?
The WBU has provided the SCCR with a concrete proposal to address their
concerns. It deserves to be considered by the SCCR and discussed. In that respect,
the European Commission can play a leading role in the forthcoming WIPO
negotiations.
We call upon the European Commission to respond to the WBU with the urgency and
seriousness that the issue demands. The first step is to agree to discuss the WBU
proposal.
Sincerely,
Anne-Catherine Lorrain
Intellectual Property Project
The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD)
80, rue d'Arlon – 1040 Bruxelles
aclorrain@consint.org
+32 2 740 28 17
Attachments:
- TACD letter distributed to WIPO SCCR 17 delegates on November 3, 2008
- List of TACD members
TACD strongly supports the October 28, 2008 proposal by the World Blind Union
(WBU) to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee
on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) for a “WIPO Treaty for Improved Access
for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons.”
Since 2003, the WBU has petitioned the WIPO SCCR for action to address their need
for global harmonization of limitations and exceptions for the blind, and to ensure that
accessible formats of copyrighted works that are created under such limitations and
exceptions can be exported and imported, in order to facilitate the global distribution
of accessible works over the Internet.
In the WIPO SCCR, the delegations from Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Nicaragua have
all proposed work on limitations and exceptions, asking that priority be given to
vulnerable populations.
In a resolution adopted July 2008, TACD has asked the U.S. and members of the
European Union to support work within the SCCR to address the needs of the visually
impaired. That resolution read in part:
What is true for the visually impaired is true for others groups and
industries – namely that there are areas where cross-border publishing
and innovative services cannot fully develop without greater
harmonization and legal certainty regarding minimum L&E. However,
the case for early action for the visually impaired is particularly clear,
given the extensive research already undertaken in this sector, and the
fact that it involves a highly vulnerable population.
The topic of copyright limitations and exceptions is an agenda item for the program of
the 17th SCCR meeting on November 3-7, 2008 in Geneva.
As noted in the TACD resolution and as explained in several WBU submissions to the
WIPO SCCR and in the 2007 WIPO Sullivan report (SCCR/15/7), national laws on
limitations and exceptions for disabled populations lack harmonization and are often
out-of-date as they related to modern information technologies. Digital copies of
copyrighted works can now be transmitted over the Internet and distributed to
disabled populations in formats that support indexed and searchable access to works
using audio, refreshable Braille and large type readers. Some national laws do not
The WBU is deeply involved in efforts to obtain voluntary licenses for access to such
works, yet the reality is that only a tiny fraction of copyrighted works licensed for use
in available accessible formats. Using limitations and exceptions to copyrights, some
countries have created some important collections of works in accessible formats, but
cannot export those works to countries that lack such collections.
The WBU has provided the SCCR with a concrete proposal to address their concerns.
It deserves to be considered by the SCCR and discussed.
While the SCCR of course is not obligated to embrace the exact proposal that has
been presented by the WBU, it does have an obligation to address their core concerns.
How can the disabled community realistically achieve “full and equal” access to
works?
TACD urges the SCCR to respond to the WBU with the urgency and seriousness that
the issue demands. The first step is to agree to discuss the WBU proposal, and a
priority proposal in the context of a larger work program on copyright limitations and
exceptions.
Sincerely,
Anne-Catherine Lorrain
TACD Intellectual Property Working Group
European Union
United States
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI)
Center for Auto Safety (CAS)
Center for Digital Democracy(CDD)
Center for Food Safety (CFS)
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
Community Nutrition Institute
Consumer Action
Consumer's Choice Council (CCC)
Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
Consumers Union (CU)
Economic Justice Institute
Electronic Frontier Founddation (EFF)
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA)
National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators
(NACAA)
National Consumers League
Prevention Insitute
Privacy International
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Public Citizen
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
Public Knowledge
US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
World Privacy Forum