The Marrakesh Treaty and The Accessible Books Consortium

The Marrakesh Treaty and The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) Bringing Books to Persons with Print Disabilities Nigeria November 2017

Context • WBU estimates that over 90% of all published material is not accessible and that rate is higher in developing countries • Of the 285 m blind and visually impaired people worldwide, only 10% will go to school or get a job.

The Marrakesh Treaty • Adopted on 28 June 2013, entered into force on 30 September 2016 • Allows for copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired persons • 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.

The Marrakesh Treaty • Nigeria’s accession, October 2017

The Marrakesh Treaty • Nigeria’s accession, October 2017: • ‘Nigeria places a high level of priority on the promotion and protection of intellectual property rights. We are gradually moving from an innovation consuming nation to an innovation generating economy’. • Afam Ezekude, Nigerian Copyright Commission

What are the benefits of the Marrakesh Treaty to publishers? • producing books in digital formats expands the market to new consumers • accessible formats make for a better product for all readers and streamline the digital process

Accessible Books Consortium • ABC is one possible initiative, amongst others, to implement the objectives of the Marrakesh Treaty • Established June 2014

ABC includes: • WIPO • World Blind Union • International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) • DAISY Consortium • International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) • Sightsavers • Perkins School for the Blind • International Publishers Association • International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations and • International Authors’ Forum.

ABC’s Three Main Activities • Capacity Building • ABC Global Book Service • Inclusive Publishing

First Activity: Capacity Building • • Bangladesh India Nepal Sri Lanka Argentina Botswana Uruguay

• Training in production of accessible format books for: o NGOs o Ministry of Education o Commercial Publishers • Production of accessible books in national language(s) • By December 2017, nearly 3950 accessible educational books will have been produced through ABC capacity building projects.

Second Activity: ABC Global Book Service

What is it? • A free, global, on-line catalogue of accessible books for libraries • “A libraries’ library” • Over 360, 000 books and growing 14

How does it help? • A ready-made technical platform • Wide selection of accessible books • Collections can be supplemented from other libraries 15

Exchanging books across borders • Authorization by Rightsholder not required if the two countries exchanging books each have copyright legislation that is consistent with Treaty • Authorization by Rightsholder is still required if only one country has implemented the provisions of the Treaty and the other has not

Statistics • 128, 000 accessible books lent • 8800 digital files of accessible books downloaded 17

Third Activity: Inclusive Publishing • ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing • ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing • Starter Kit for Developing Countries • Guidelines for Self-Publishing Authors

How can publishers help or become involved in ABC? • establish contacts with authors, other publishers, the national association for the blind and educational agencies • when requested by libraries, education agencies or the association for the blind, provide authorization so that your books can be produced in an accessible format, and exchanged across borders • facilitate the production of accessible format works by providing these organizations with the digital copies of your books • adopt accessible publishing standards, such as using Unicode compliant fonts and using available accessibility features in your publishing workflows • sign up to the ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing

For more information: Kevin. Fitzgerald@wipo. int Monica. Halil@wipo. int Accessible. Books@wipo. int www. Accessible. Books. Consortium. org