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Deutsch: WIPO: Antrag auf ein Abkommen für Sehbehinderte

The WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) met from 25 to 29 May in Geneva. This time, the main points on the agenda were the survey on limitations and exceptions and the visually impaired treaty proposal introduced by Brazil Ecuador and Paraguay (BEP proposal).

As usual, the committee also briefly dealt with the situation pertaining broadcaster's rights and audiovisual protection but since the national positions are not moving, no real progress was made.

The most interesting part of the meeting was the discussion about the BEP proposal. The treaty was strongly supported by the South American countries and it was also seen in a favourable light by most of the African representatives (which would like to see even wider support for access to information, though) and Asian delegates.

However, group B and the European Union did their best to derail the process of getting the treaty under serious consideration. The given reasons for this were rather perplexing e.g. "the matter is so complex" (unlike the broadcast treaty?) and "there's need for more fact-finding" (there's lot of published research by both WIPO and WBU). In reality, the civil servants from Germany, France etc. want to oppose categorically any instrument which would give rights to the users. However, since it is not politically possible to oppose helping visually impaired persons such poor excuses are needed.

EDRi also stressed in its intervention the fact that EU is ready to use a "hard law" approach to help elder stage musicians so it would be very unsincere to oppose the same approach for blind persons.

WIPO Limitations & Exceptions Treaty Advances; Audiovisual Treaty Gets New Life (30.05.2009)
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/05/30/wipo-limitations-audiovisual...

SCCR to Expedite Work in Favor of Reading Impaired (2.06.2009)
http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2009/article_0012.html

(Contribution by Ville Oksanen, EDRI-member EFFI)