Marrakesh VIP Treaty

Not to be confused with Marrakesh Agreement.
Marrakesh VIP Treaty
Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works to Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities
Type Multilateral
Signed 28 June 2013 (2013-06-28)
Location Marrakesh, Morocco
Effective 30 September 2016 (2016-09-30)
Condition Ratification of 20 states
Signatories 84
Parties 20[1]
Depositary World Intellectual Property Organization

The Marrakesh VIP Treaty (formally the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities, colloquially MVT[2]) is a treaty on copyright adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 28 June 2013.[3][4] The treaty allows for copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired persons. The treaty sets a norm for countries ratifying the treaty to have a domestic copyright exception covering these activities, and allowing for the import and export of such materials.

Fifty-one countries signed the treaty as of the close of the diplomatic conference in Marrakesh. The ratification of 20 states was required for the treaty to enter into effect;[5] the 20th ratification was received on 30 June 2016, and the treaty will enter into force on 30 September 2016.[6]

India ratified the treaty on 24 July 2014 and was the first country to do so.[1][7] As of 7 July 2014, 79 countries have signed the Treaty and 20 states have ratified it.

In March 2015, an unusually harsh statement by the Council of the European Union accused the European Commission of delaying the adoption of the treaty by EU and called upon the Commission "to submit without delay the necessary legislative proposal".[8][9]

Dr Paul Harpur, law lecturer at the University of Queensland, as part of a series of papers on accessibility, has argued that the Marrakesh VIP Treaty represents a paradigm shift in how the copyright world approaches accessibility and persons with print disabilities. Even though the Marrakesh Treaty is a positive step, Harpur and Suzor argue that more needs to be done to fully recognise persons with disabilities right to read as posited in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[10][11][12][13]

The treaty is the second international trade treaty associated with Marrakesh, the other being the Marrakesh Agreement which established the World Trade Organization in 1994.

References

  1. 1 2 "Notifications: Marrakesh VIP Treaty". World Intellectual Property Organization. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "Summary of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled". World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Diplomatic Conference to Conclude a Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities". World Intellectual Property Organization. 28 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Between the lines: Blind people defeat lobbyists in a tussle about copyright". The Economist. 20 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Stevie Wonder hails landmark WIPO treaty boosting access to books for blind and visually impaired persons". World Intellectual Property Organization. 28 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "WIPO Press Release"
  7. ↑ "India ratifies Marrakesh Treaty for visually impaired". The Hindu. 3 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Marrakesh in the EU: facing the excuses and delay tactics after Council statement". IP Policy Committee blog. TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue. 7 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled — Guidance for further work" (PDF). Council of the European Union.
  10. ↑ Paul Harpur and Rebecca Loudoun (2011). "The Barrier of the Written Word: Analysing Universities' Policies to Include Students with Print Disabilities and Calls for Reforms". Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. 33 (2): 153–67. SSRN 1804628Freely accessible.
  11. ↑ Paul Harpur (2010). "Ensuring equality in education: How Australian laws are leaving students with print disabilities behind". Media and Arts Law Review. 15 (1): 70–83. SSRN 1668096Freely accessible.
  12. ↑ Nic Suzor, Paul Harpur and Dylan Thampapillai (2008). "Digital Copyright and Disability Discrimination: From Braille Books to Bookshare". Media and Arts Law Review. 13 (1): 1–17. SSRN 1138809Freely accessible.
  13. ↑ Paul Harpur and Nic Suzor (2013). "Copyright Protections and Disability Rights: Turning the Page to a New International Paradigm". University of New South Wales Law Journal. 36 (3): 745–78. SSRN 2390468Freely accessible.
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