Brussels, 23/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 October, the Commission proposed to facilitate access to books for visually impaired persons. The Commission called for the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty on this subject, drawn up by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO: United Nations agency) during a conference in June 2013. The treaty will ensure that books in formats such as Braille, large print, e-books and audio books with special navigation tools, produced under copyright exceptions, can be exchanged across borders. Some 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, while in Europe only 5% of published books are available in an accessible format for visually impaired persons.
On behalf of the European Union, the European Commission signed this treaty last April, as had 79 other countries in the world. The Commission has requested the Council's authorisation to ratify the treaty on behalf of the EU, although only two other countries, El Salvador and India, have ratified it so far. 20 member countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization have to ratify the treaty for it to be able to enter into force. (MD)