WIPO Negotiations: Latest Text Of Treaty For The Blind Is Short On Progress

A new version of a text to become a treaty facilitating access to books and information for blind and visually impaired people was issued this morning at the World Intellectual Property Organization amidst concerns that a lot of ground still needs to be covered before the end of the meeting tomorrow. 

WIPO delegates have been trying since the beginning of the special session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) on 18 February to clean a text in the run-up to a diplomatic conference in June. The weeklong SCCR session ends on 22 February.

The new text [pdf], as with the first revision [pdf] published on 18 February, shows no significant advances on the articles but additional footnotes in Article C (National Law limitations and exceptions on accessible format copies), Article D (Cross-border exchange of accessible format copies), and Article E (Importation of accessible format copies).

Those footnotes are under discussion and might not be kept in the text should they not meet agreement before the end of the session, according to the WIPO secretariat, which reported on progress achieved.

Serbian Ambassador Uglješa Zvekić, ad hoc chair of the SCCR, said some progress was achieved but much ground was still to be covered as the  mood in the corridors is growing anxious with only a day left to resolve outstanding issues.

Discussions in several drafting groups was being carried out today in closed session.