[IRP] URGENT, deadline Dec 4: reply comments on Treaty for the Visually Impaired

[Katitza Rodriguez]

Dear all

If you want to support this proposal for a Treaty for the Visually  
Impaired, pls. send an email to Malini Aisola from KEI. malini.aisola at keionline.org

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Malini Aisola <malini.aisola at keionline.org>
> Date: December 4, 2009 10:26:31 AM EST
> To: Katitza Rodriguez <katitza at datos-personales.org>
> Cc: Manon Ress <manon.ress at keionline.org>
> Subject: Re: URGENT, deadline Dec 4: reply comments on Treaty for  
> the Visually Impaired
> Reply-To: malini.aisola at keionline.org
>
> Yes, please. Thank you so much!!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Katitza Rodriguez <katitza at datos-personales.org>
> To: malini.aisola at keionline.org
> Cc: Manon Ress <manon.ress at keionline.org>
> Subject: Re: URGENT, deadline Dec 4: reply comments on Treaty for the
> Visually Impaired
> Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 10:25:55 -0500
>
> Can I forward this?
>
> On Dec 4, 2009, at 10:20 AM, Malini Aisola wrote:
>
>> We have just received an extension until midnight, December 5, 2009  
>> at
>> 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the deadline to file  
>> comments.
>> Please let me know if you would like to sign on to this letter.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Malini Aisola <malini.aisola at keionline.org>
>> Reply-to: malini.aisola at keionline.org
>> To: ip at tacd.org
>> Subject: URGENT, deadline Dec 4: reply comments on Treaty for the
>> Visually Impaired
>> Date: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:07:13 -0500
>>
>> Dear colleagues at TACD,
>>
>> KEI, US PIRG and CPATH invite you to support a short, joint letter
>> from consumer groups
>> to a consultation that the US government is organizing on a proposal
>> supported by the World Blind Union, KEI and some TACD members.
>>
>> This treaty proposal is formally sponsored by the  governments of
>> Brazil, Ecuador
>> and Paraguay and will be considered at the next session of the WIPO
>> Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). The
>> proposal
>> is for a treaty of copyright exceptions and limitations to facilitate
>> access and sharing of works for people who are blind or have other
>> reading disabilities. You can find more information about this treaty
>> proposal in our website: http://keionline.org/r2r
>>
>> In preparation for the next meeting of the WIPO SCCR in December, the
>> Copyright Office and USPTO are currently requesting comments from
>> interesting parties on this treaty proposal:
>> http://www.copyright.gov/docs/sccr/
>>
>> All comments are available at http://www.copyright.gov/docs/sccr/
>> Reply comments are due by tomorrow, Friday, December 4.
>>
>> Libraries, disability groups and others have filed strong statements
>> in
>> support of the treaty separately.
>>
>> The publishers and groups like the Association of American Publishers
>> (AAP),  Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), National Music
>> Publishers' Association (NMPA)  and Recording Industry Association of
>> America (RIAA ) are opposing this treaty using the argument that this
>> will set precedent in extending limitations and exception to  
>> copyright
>> beyond the disabled community and beyond exemptions that already  
>> exist
>> in the US. They are suggesting that voluntary licensing mechanisms
>> as a
>> substitute for a treaty.
>>
>> We are now hoping to galvanize support from consumer groups on this
>> very
>> important issue through a joint submission in support of the treaty.
>> Both international and US groups can sign alike.
>>
>> Below is the text of the submission which is supported by U.S. PIRG,
>> KEI
>> and CPATH.
>>
>> Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to sign on  
>> to
>> the letter as the deadline is tomorrow, December 4 (US time). Please
>> feel free to contact me with any questions.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Malini
>>
>>
>> ************************************
>>
>> Reply comments of U.S. PIRG, CPATH, XXXXXX to the Copyright Office  
>> and
>> the USPTO regarding the WIPO draft proposal to facilitate access to
>> copyrighted works for persons, who are blind or have other reading
>> disabilities, in response to the Federal Register Notice of October
>> 13,
>> 2009.
>>
>>
>> The following comments are a reply to the comments filed by Steven J.
>> Metalitz on behalf of the Association of American Publishers (AAP),
>> Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA), Motion Picture
>> Association of America (MPAA), National Music Publishers' Association
>> (NMPA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which
>> will
>> be referred to as the publisher group, or TPG.
>>
>>
>>
>> As US Consumer groups representing sighted and not sighted
>> consumers, we
>> are writing to express our support for a WIPO treaty for persons who
>> are
>> blind and have other reading disabilities.
>>
>> With regard to the comments by TPG, we reject the suggestion that
>> voluntary measures by publishers can be a substitute for a treaty,  
>> for
>> the following reasons.
>>
>> 1. There is no evidence that every publisher of new books,
>> periodicals,
>> pamphlets and other copyrighted materials will soon begin to
>> voluntarily
>> license works to publishers of accessible works. To the contrary, few
>> works are now licensed voluntarily, and Random House recently
>> decided to
>> turn off the text-to-speech function in the Kindle 2 electronic
>> bookreader. Indeed, even if there were an astronomical increase in  
>> the
>> number of licensed works, it would not be complete or equal to what  
>> is
>> accessible to someone who is not visually impaired. Even in very
>> optimistic scenarios, people with reading disabilities will always
>> need
>> exceptions to achieve more equal access to works.
>>
>>
>> 2. Estimates of the number of published books protected by copyright
>> vary, but there are without any doubt millions of books that are out
>> of
>> print, and for which it is extremely difficult or impossible to
>> identify
>> and locate copyright owners and negotiate voluntary licenses to use
>> works. This problem is even more complicated when one considers the
>> need
>> to obtain the global rights to works, which may be held by different
>> publishers.
>>
>> 3. The main point of the proposed WIPO treaty for reading  
>> disabilities
>> is to facilitate the cross border import and export of works created
>> under exceptions, a topic not addressed at by TPG. The World Blind
>> Union
>> and other disabilities groups correctly argue that a treaty will
>> provide
>> the largest benefit -- by reducing legal uncertainty, and providing a
>> common set of procedures for publishers of accessible works.
>>
>> We fully and enthusiastically support the World Blind Union and call
>> upon the Administration to support negotiations for a new WIPO treaty
>> that will facilitate the cross border sharing of accessible works,  
>> and
>> ensure that blind and other persons with reading disabilities have  
>> the
>> right to make accessible copies of copyrighted works.
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Malini Aisola
>> Knowledge Ecology International
>> 1621 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20009
>> malini.aisola at keionline.org|Tel: +1.202.332.2670|Fax: +1.202.332.2673
>>
>
> -- 
> Malini Aisola
> Knowledge Ecology International
> 1621 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20009
> malini.aisola at keionline.org|Tel: +1.202.332.2670|Fax: +1.202.332.2673
>

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