Europe Acts On Visually Impaired Reader Access

Comments

1. john e miller says

   22/09/2010 at 1:56 pm

   From the above mentioned EU Press Release:

   “Although all EU Member States have put in place exceptions to copyright for the benefit of dyslexic or visually impaired readers, these exceptions vary and make cross-border distribution complicated.”

   The EU currently has 27 Member countries and 24 or 25 official languages… The ‘Trusted Intermediary’ mechanism should be able to sort this all out.

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2. john e miller says

   24/09/2010 at 7:16 am

   I am a US Library of Congress Certified Braille Transcriber and the Founder of a nascent 501c3 Non-Profit Corporation. In the IRS filing for ‘NGO’ status it was specifically stated that the NPC had a specific mission to provide Braille and other services to the Visually Impaired community. Under such definition the NPC would qualify as an ‘Authorized Entity’ under Section 121 of the US Copyright Act also known as the ‘Chafee Amendment’.

   In the MOU referenced above and in the EU WIPO SCCR 20_12 Article 1 Paragraph iv. ‘Draft Recommendation’ it has been suggested by EU representatives that the ‘Trusted Intermediary’ process involves an approval entailing a ‘permission’ or ‘consent’ procedure at the discretion of the Rights Holder representatives.

   Currently I am allowed to make Braille renditions of copyrighted works under provisions of the Chafee Amendment US Copyright Section 121 and under Section 31A of the UK Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 … under certain provisions of both Acts according to the WIPO ‘Sullivan Report’ (SCCR 15_7) Braille documents might also be exported.

   The 4 SEP 2010 MOU only deals with EU countries but the WIPO SCCR 20_12 proposal by the EU Delegation would apply to all countries. If such a measure was ever passed, and for some reason or another I and my NGO were to be denied ‘Trusted Intermediary’ status, you would then see the Mother-Of-All Copyright Law challenges.

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3. john e miller says

   30/09/2010 at 3:07 am

   To elaborate on Comment 2. above:

   The UK VIP Act 2002 makes no mention that the qualified recipient must be a citizen of UK; that distinction only arises in the 31B licensing process as prescribed by the CLA VIP LICENSE … the the material in question must only meet the 1988 Copyright … Act IX. ‘Qualification for copyright protection.’

   As regards the US Copyright Act ‘Chafee Amendment’ at Section 121 as regards export, the US Copyright Office has gone on record:

   “… More importantly, the exclusive right of (a Copyright Owner’s) distribution … is subject to the limitations and exceptions … including the exceptions for persons with print disabilities contained in 17 U.S.C. § 121.”
   “This means that acts of importation and exportation by ‘authorized entities’ … that meet the conditions of Section 121 will be exempt from …” export restrictions as otherwise prescribed.

   A Treaty such as proposed by the EU at WIPO SCCR 20_12 (or in the MOU above) includes a definition that would abrogate rights already granted to Authorized Entities in the USA and rights granted under section UK VIP Act 2002 31A in that the Trusted Intermediary would be subject to approval at the discretion of some nebulously defined Rights Holder’s interests.

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