GENEVA, 12th July, 2023 (WAM) – Ten years after the gavel came down, member states and key stakeholders came together during the WIPO General Assembly to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the landmark Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, WIPO’s fastest growing treaty.
WIPO Director General Daren Tang said the Marrakesh Treaty is not just a legal text but "also about opportunity. Opportunity for schoolchildren with visual impairments or disabilities to study at the same pace as their peers. Opportunity for people in this community to pursue careers otherwise closed off to them. And opportunities for the global community to support one another through the cross-border exchange and movement of accessible format works.”
Mr. Tang said the Treaty is "well on its way to becoming a global Treaty.” He also noted that the Marrakesh Treaty "has been our pioneer in partnering with NGOs to create impact on the ground.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Ms. Martine Abel-Williamson, World Blind Union (WBU) President, recalled the WBU’s pivotal role in advocating for the Treaty and ongoing efforts to ensure its full implementation. Referring to a gap between ratification and implementation in some member states, she called on the international community to redouble our efforts and work collaboratively to bridge this implementation gap, ensuring that the Marrakesh Treaty's transformative potential becomes a reality for all.
The Treaty, which has 93 contracting parties covering 119 countries, addresses the “book famine” by requiring its contracting parties to adopt national law provisions that permit the reproduction, distribution and making available of published works in accessible formats through limitations and exceptions to the rights of copyright holders.
It also provides for the exchange of these accessible format works across borders by organizations that serve people who are blind, or otherwise print disabled. It harmonizes limitations and exceptions so that these organizations can operate across borders. This sharing of works in accessible formats increases the overall number of works available, eliminating duplication and increasing efficiency. Instead of five countries producing accessible versions of the same work, each of the five countries is able to produce an accessible version of a different work, which can then be shared with each of the other countries.