Why Is A Treaty For Letting The Blind Have Access To Books Too Difficult, But ACTA Is Fine?
from the questions,-questions dept
We've pointed out the hypocrisy of the industry folks who are eagerly supporting the expansion of copyright via ACTA, but who are against a few very limited simple exceptions to copyright for the blind in a new WIPO treaty. However, in defending this position, a European Union Commissioner, Michel Barnier, has explained to the European Blind Union, that doing a treaty is just too hard, and it's much easier to just do a much more limited "joint recommendation," which would be a lot weaker. As KEI's Jamie Love points out in the link above, it seems odd here that the EU is admitting that it's too difficult to bother creating new treaties around copyright... at the same time it's heavily involved in ACTA and a number of other copyright treaties. Apparently it's only worth undertaking that kind of effort when it ratchets copyright up in favor of industry. The blind? Eh. Not worth the effort...
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyoneβs attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Tired.
∘ http://documents.envisional.com/docs/Envisional-Internet_Usage-Jan2011.pdf
∘ The study shows a dramatic reduction in copyright infringement for music.
RIETI - Research Institute of Economy, Trade & Industry, IAA - Study about piracy showing that it actually helps sell more DVD's.
RIETI - Do Illegal Copies of Movies Reduce the Revenue of Legal Products? The case of TV animation in Japan
∘ http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/11010021.html
∘ Author Name: TANAKA Tatsuo (Faculty Fellow, RIETI)
∘ Creation Date: January 2011 11-J-010
The Norwegian Music Industry in the Age of Digitalization. (Richard Bjerkoe, Anders Sorbo)
Date of submission: 01.09.2010
∘ http://www.scribd.com/doc/37406039/Thesis-Bjerkoe-Sorbo
∘ The study shows that the music industry in Norway is growing despite piracy claims to the contrary.
Jailhouse Frocks: Locating the Public Interest in Policing Counterfeit Luxury Fashion Goods
∘ http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/6/1094.short?rss=1
∘ http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1649773
∘ David S. Wall and Joanna Large (2010)
∘ This article seeks to locate the public interest in policing counterfeit luxury fashion goods by separating it out from the broader debate over safety-critical counterfeits such as aircraft parts. Meaning to stop wasting resources trying to protect something that doesn't need protections like luxury fashion goods.
PRS for Music - Economic Insight 20 Adding up the UK music industry for 2009
∘ http://www.prsformusic.com/creators/news/research/Documents/Economic%20Insight%2020%20web.pdf
; The Swedish Music Industry in Graphs - Economic Development Report 2000 - 2008 - Dec2009
Daniel Johansson & Markus Larsson (December 2009)
∘ http://www.trendmaze.com/media/1038/swedish_music_industry_2000-2008.pdf
Legal, Economic and Cultural Aspects of File Sharing
Nico van EIJK, Joost POORT, Paul RUTTEN (2010)
∘ http://www.ivir.nl/publications/vaneijk/Communications&Strategies_2010.pdf
&n bsp;∘ The studies demonstrate that filesharers buy more secondary merchandise and there is no apparent change in purchasing habits from them in relation to music.
Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation: Evidence from the Human Genome
∘ Heidi L. Williams
∘ July 2010
‣ http://papers.nber.org/papers/w16213
"Celera's short-term IP thus appears to have had persistent negative effects on subsequent innovation relative to a counterfactual of Celera genes having always been in the public domain."
Wired - Labels: Lower Music Prices And Increase Your Profits, Study Says
By Eliot Van Buskirk (January 29, 2010 11:57 am)
∘ http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/labels-lower-music-prices-and-increase-your-profits-study-say s
File-Sharing and Copyright
No. 09-132
Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Koleman Strumpf
Strategy
May 2009
∘ http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-132.pdf
∘ http://www.hbs.edu/research/facpubs/workingpapers/papers0809.html#wp09-132
So much to read and so little time all those studies saying that copyright is crap its just tiresome LoL
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Other than the fact that copyright is a thorn in the side of his precious love, music piracy, why is he so obsessed with it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Geese and Ganders
Other than the fact that Mike Masnick is a thorn in the side of his precious love, blind ignorance, why is he so obsessed with it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Won't you please think of the blind children, or do you just like eating live kittens?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Or do you just grab three nails every morning and "get your Jesus on," dying over and over on the cross of technology?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Just because it doesn't directly affect him he's still speaking out because he feels that current politics are heading in a dangerous direction.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
BUT COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The same can easily be said about the corporate output the current laws are intended to protect. If originality is your benchmark, why do you support a system that protects those who churn out nothing but cover versions and remakes?
"copyright is a thorn in the side of his precious love, music piracy"
So, you're saying that anybody who advocates copyright exceptions to allow access to copyrighted material for the blind is a pirate? Quite typical of you. It's a shame that your corporate worship has left you unable to spot untapped markets in favour of trying to maintain a status quo that's 2 decades out of date, but we know by now what a poor businessman you are.
Here's a quick hint: blind people would buy this material legally, if measures were in p[lace to allow them to use it legally. Why are you opposed to servicing paying customers?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Its TAM, he doesn't oppose servicing paying customers...he opposes anything that Mike Masnick says just because it makes him cool among his pre-school brethren. Some day he will grow up and join the real world as a productive member of society, but for now he is trollin' for the lulz on Techdirt.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why is it too difficult?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it too difficult?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Thanks for covering accessibility topics.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
what i AM surprised by is that anyone else would be surprised by this.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106 [17 USC 106], it is not an infringement of copyright for an authorized entity to reproduce or to distribute copies or phonorecords of a previously published, nondramatic literary work if such copies or phonorecords are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities."
The provision contained is US law is not necessarily reflected in the national laws of other countries who have ratified the noted treaty. Given that the amendment of treaties is oftentimes a lengthy activity, it is not at all unusual to adopt non-binding resolutions encouraging countries to consider the adoption of national laws addressing the subject matter in such resolutions.
This is to a significant degree not an issue in the United States, so if anything your criticism should be directed towards those countries who do not have their own counterparts that address the matter addressed by 17 USC 121.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
authorized entity? It's never an infringement for an authorized entity to make copies. That's the whole point of being authorized. What does this provision buy the blind?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
For the benefit of others: Authorized entity means a [government agency / nonprofit organization] whose primary mission is providing services for the blind.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
"authorized entity" for example - does that mean authorised by the US government, or by the rightsholder? Either way it doesn't necessarily say anyone has to be authorised, just that they're exempt from ingringement if they are.
Also "Non-dramatic literary work" - does that mean no play scripts? Or no fiction? seems an odd-ish limtation.
And "specialized formats exclusively for..." - what about audiobook format? That's not exclusive to blind or disabled people, but seems an obvious format for them. I could be wrong but I'd be suprised if audiobooks are exempt from copyright.
The UK also has significant "accessibiity" laws for the disabled - probably as more so than the US- but here too it doesn't mean disabled people couldn't use more help still and they certainly deserve more international effort to my mind that enormous mega-corporations, which I think was kind of the point of the article.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
"authorized entity" for example - does that mean authorised by the US government, or by the rightsholder? Either way it doesn't necessarily say anyone has to be authorised, just that they're exempt from ingringement if they are.
Also "Non-dramatic literary work" - does that mean no play scripts? Or no fiction? seems an odd-ish limtation.
And "specialized formats exclusively for..." - what about audiobook format? That's not exclusive to blind or disabled people, but seems an obvious format for them. I could be wrong but I'd be suprised if audiobooks are exempt from copyright.
The UK also has significant "accessibiity" laws for the disabled - probably as more so than the US- but here too it doesn't mean disabled people couldn't use more help still and they certainly deserve more international effort to my mind that enormous mega-corporations, which I think was kind of the point of the article.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why a treaty is needed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If this isnt an issue...
Isnt that somewhat foolish? Its like making a program for PC and ignoring that 10% of people have Macs now. The product would sell better if it was in the form that people wanted it in.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: If this isnt an issue...
Converting text to braille is reasonably easy and once the software is written to handle it, doesn't need to be rewritten every time. As a software developer I like your metaphor but it isn't really along the same lines.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Actually....
I wonder if they could be arrested for using speech software to read things to them, I mean, the copyright, its so bad...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Actually....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://wipo.int/about-wipo/en/dgo/speeches/dg_blueskyconf_11.html
The Blind - the WIPO TIGAR Project is WIPO-Industry's band aid solution to deeper, truly deeper problem of copyright law/system: access to information to educate, liberate and grow economies, peoples.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]