ACIPR Logo

Alliance Center for
Intellectual Property Rights


EMPOWERING THE PRINT DISABLED AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS: WIPO ADMINISTERED MARRAKESH TREATY, COPYRIGHT, INDIA

January 1, 2025

*Mr. Cibi Chakkaravarthy J

INTRODUCTION

The Marrakesh Treaty is a huge step forward towards equity and inclusivity and has equally, single-handedly advanced the progress of print resources accessibility to all, revoking absolute rights in copyright. Signed in 2013, this treaty’s purpose is to facilitate published works to be made access friendly for print disabled and visually impaired persons.

The Marrakesh Treaty, or the Marrakesh Agreement to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Visually Impaired or Have Other Print-Related Disabilities, is one of the treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco. This treaty attempts to rectify an inadequacy in the law of copyright that has for a long time acted as a barrier with regard to the provision of access-friendly printed books and reading materials or to make them available access-friendly to people with visual impairment and other print-related disabilities.

People with print disabilities and visual impairments faced difficulty before this treaty in accessing educational and other relevant print materials to read. In many countries, regulations were such that without permission from the owner or his agent, a copyrighted work cannot be reproduced in accessible formats (braille or audio) for the benefit of access by people with print disabilities or visual impairments. The Marrakesh Treaty tackles this by allowing authorized organizations to create and share in accessible formats for persons with print disabilities or visual impairments, without requiring approval from copyright holders.

CORE PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY

  1. Exceptions: The treaty makes countries change their copyright rules. This change allows approved groups like libraries and schools to make and share formats that everyone can use. They do this for the people who require them.
  2. Beyond Border Exchange: This treaty lets access friendly copies for the visually or print disabled be swapped across borders. This lets them share things around without worrying about breaking any copyright laws. This is required in countries that do not have the resources to change a print copy to a copy that is accessible to all print disabled and visually impaired persons. It enables them to get stuff that isn't available in their country.
  3. Implementation Latitude: This treaty knows that disability is of many types and is not only with regards to visual impairment. It also includes physical disabilities that make it difficult to handle printed materials. Further, it allows countries amend their rules in a way that best fits with their own laws.

INDIA AND THE MARRAKESH TREATY

On the 30th of June 2014, India became the first country to ratify the treaty. The Marrakesh Treaty underscores India’s commitment to obligations towards visually impaired and print-disabled persons by providing them access to knowledge through regulation that necessitates access-friendly availability of print resources for them, setting aside copyrights.

The Importance of the Treaty

Bringing human rights to bear where they have been lacking, superseding the absolute right principle of copyright, is its most important aspect. The right to information has always been treated as a privilege. Eliminating barriers to access for the disabled seeks to foster social inclusion.

The convenience provided by the Marrakesh treaty to the print-disabled and visually impaired persons gives them equal chances to prosper in life. Today 124 countries of 194 WIPO members have become signatories to the agreement.

The Role of Advocacy

The Marrakesh Treaty’s success relies on advocacy. It is important for law students, lawyers, activists, and non-governmental organizations to collaborate and create awareness on the treaty's provisions and the need for accessibility to the can’t dos. They also need to work with the country’s policymakers to make local laws come in agreement with the treaty and ensure that necessary resources are set aside for making accessibility to print resources to all, superseding their disabilities.

CONCLUSION

With the Marrakesh Treaty, absolute rights of copyright holders are lifted off of their published works. Aiding in creating equality and inclusion of visually impaired people and other print disabled by providing access to those works by making it access friendly through authorized institutions such as libraries and so on. Changing the lives of many who are unable to access print resources is what this treaty came into existence for. The journey is far from over. Advocacy remains a key enabler to the challenges yet to be faced, ensuring the spirit of the Marrakesh Treaty is upheld for everyone’s benefit. Legal necessitating aside, accessibility is a moral obligation as well for humanity for its differently abled.

REFERENCES:

  1. Nicolas Suzor, Suzannah Wood, The Marrakesh Treaty could bring the world’s books to the blind, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/the-marrakesh-treaty-could-bring-the-worlds-books-to-the-blind-27101 (last visited Mar 2, 2025).
  2. Vision Australia, https://www.visionaustralia.org/business-consulting/print-accessibility/what-is-print disability, (last visited Mar 9, 2025).
  3. WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/marrakesh/,(last visited Mar 2, 2025).
  4. Delia Ferri, Katie Donnellan, The Implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty in the European Union: An Important Piece in the Accessibility Jigsaw?, 49(3), Legal Issues of Economic Integration, 269-292, (2022).
  5. IPA GUIDE TO THE MARRAKESH TREATY, https://internationalpublishers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ipa-guide-to-the-marrakesh-treaty.pdf (last visited Mar 2, 2025).
  6. Vismaya Shaji, Marrakesh Vip Treaty - An Analysis, LJRFVOICE, (last visited Mar 9, 2025) https://ljrfvoice.com/marrakesh-vip treaty-an-analysis/
  7. Press Information Bureau, https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=106012, (last visited Mar 2, 2025).
  8. WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/treaties/ShowResults?search_what=C&treaty_id=843, (last visited Mar 2, 2025)
  9. World Blind Union, https://worldblindunion.org/programs/marrakesh-treaty/, (last visited Mar 2, 2025).

Author:
* Mr. Cibi Chakkaravarthy J
2nd Year LL. B. (Hons.) Student,
Karnataka State Law University.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of the Alliance Centre for Intellectual Property Rights (ACIPR) and the Centre does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.