World of Words

• Author: Rhonda McMillion
• Pages: 67-67

REPORT FROM GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

||

Your ABA

SEPTEMBER 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 67

2019 REGULA R STATE DELEGATE ELECTION

Pursuant to Section 6 .3(a) of the ABA’s Constitution,

17 states will elect Sta te Delegates for three-year te rms

beginning at the adjournment of the 2019 Annual Meeting.

The deadline for fi ling petitions is Dec. 4. Fo r rules and proce-

dures, go to ambar.org/2019StateDelegateElection. If you are

interested in fi ling or have questions, contact Leticia Spencer

(leticia.spencer@americanbar.org, 312-988-5160).

World of Words

ABA-supported Marrakesh Treaty expands access to

print materials for blind people By Rhonda McMillion

Less than 10 percent of the millions

of books published each year are

available in formats that make

them accessible to blind and visually

impaired people, according to the

World Blind Union.

In the hopes of providing greater

access to printed literary works for

the 285 million blind and visually

impaired individuals worldwide,

the Senate voted in June to approve

a resolution to ratify an ABA-

supported treaty.

Signatories to the Marrakesh

Treaty to Facilitate Access to

Published Works to Persons Who

Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or

Otherwise Print Disabled agree

to adapt their domestic copyright

laws to allow written works to be

converted into accessible formats

such as braille, large print or digital

for personal use and noncommercial

distribution. A total of 40 countries

are party to the treaty, which also

requires that the countries allow

eligible people and libraries to

export and import works between

those countries.

While the United States has

already adopted similar exceptions,

more than 130 countries designated

by the World Intellectual Property

Organization have not. As a result,

reproducing written works in braille

or other writing systems for the

disabled in those countries may

constitute a copyright violation,

and the import or export of accessible

formats across international borders

may not be allowed.

ABA Notices

The treaty, which is administered

by WIPO, was negotiated in June

2013 in Marrakesh, Morocco, and

submitted to the Senate in February

2016 by President Barack Obama.

In his letter of transmittal, Obama

noted that the United States played

a leadership role in negotiating the

treaty, and that its provisions are

broadly consistent with existing

U.S. law. The treaty came into force

in September 2016 when Canada

became the 20th nation to ratify it.

REMOVING BARRIERS

The ABA expressed support for

prompt ratifi cation of the Marrakesh

Treaty in April, when the Senate

Foreign Relations Committee con-

vened a hearing on the access and

copyright issues related to it.

“Ratifying the treaty would help

open doors to countries worldwide,

allowing literature to be disseminated

in accessible formats with no bor-

ders,” ABA Governmental A airs

Director Thomas M. Susman wrote

in a letter to the committee.

At the hearing, Manisha Singh,

assistant secretary of state for the

Bureau of Economic and Business

A airs, said the treaty would allow

Americans who are blind or visually

impaired to access an estimated

350,000 additional works.

“Accessing information, especially

in a timely fashion, has been one

of the signifi cant barriers posed

by blindness and print disabilities,”

testifi ed Scott C. LaBarre, a member

of the ABA Board of Governors who

has been blind since age 10. LaBarre

was involved in the 2013 treaty nego-

tiations as the National Federation

of the Blind’s lead delegate. “Those

without such disabilities take for

granted the ability to pick up a

book or other printed material

and simply read it.”

The Senate Foreign Relations

Committee, in its executive report

to the full Senate, stated that the

treaty “strikes a careful balance,

providing that copyright protection

should not impede the creation and

distribution of such accessible format

copies, including the exchange of

such copies internationally to desig-

nated benefi ciaries while providing

for appropriate safeguards to protect

the interests of copyright holders.”

The report emphasized that the

treaty provides assurance to authors

and publishers that the system will

not expose their published works

to misuse or distribution to anyone

other than the intended benefi ciaries.

The fi nal steps include the enact-

ment of S. 2559, implementing

legislation that adjusts U.S. copyright

law to fully comply with the treaty’s

language and requirements. The

Senate passed the bill and sent it

to the House for consideration.

After passage of the implementing

legislation, the U.S. president, as the

chief diplomat of the United States,

would submit documents to WIPO

agreeing that the government will

abide by the treaty. Q

This report is writ ten by the ABA

Governmental A a irs O ce and

discusses advocac y e orts by the

ABA relating to issues being addressed

by Congress and the execut ive branch

of the federal government. Rhonda

McMillion is editor of ABA Washington

Letter, a Governmental A air s O ce

publication.

2018 NEVADA STATE DELEGATE VACANCY ELECTION

Pursuant to Section 6 .3(e) of the ABA’s Constitution, the s tate

of Nevada will elect a St ate Delegate to fi ll a vacan cy due to the

nomination of Rew R. G oodenow, who was elected to the B oard of

Governors. The term will commence immediately upon certifi cation

by the Board of Electi ons and expires at the conc lusion of the 2021

Annual Meeting . The deadline for fi ling p etitions is Sept. 20. For

rules and procedure s, go to ambar.org/NevadaVacancy. If you

are interested in fi ling or have questions, contact Leticia Sp encer

(leticia.spencer@americanbar.org, 312-988-5160).