Cc-au mailing list

[Jessica Coates <j2.coates AT qut.edu.au>]

Hi all

I thought people on these lists might be interested in this post from 
Electronic Frontiers Australia.

Jessica Coates
Project Manager
Creative Commons Clinic
Queensland University of Technology
 
ph: 07 3138 8301
fax: 07 3138 9395
email: j2.coates AT qut.edu.au

-----Original Message-----
From: Nicolas Suzor [mailto:nic AT suzor.com] 
Sent: Saturday, 30 May 2009 12:17 AM
To: Paul Harpur; Brian Fitzgerald; Jessica Coates; pappalak-forwarding; 
Elliott Bledsoe
Subject: Fwd: Australia opposes treaty to enhance access of blind people to 
copyright material

It appears that Australia is in a group of countries that opposes a
WIPO treaty that would introduce some fairly useful exceptions to
increase access to copyright material for people with a print
disability.

See: <http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/29/usa-canada-and-the-e.html>
EFA post at: 
<http://www.efa.org.au/2009/05/29/australia-opposes-treaty-to-enhance-access-of-blind-people-to-copyright-material/>

The draft treaty
<http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:7RU2sOmK8ikJ:www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_18/sccr_18_5.doc+wipo+sccr+18+5&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk>
includes several important clauses, including:

   * an exception to copyright infringement for non-profit supply of
accessible versions of works to which a person with a print disability
already has access in a non-accessible form;

   * a statutory licence for reasonable for-profit supply;

   * an exception to anti-circumvention law to allow blind persons to
break technological locks that make the work inaccessible; and

   * most importantly, an exception that allows importing and
exporting of accessible versions of copyright works, enabling them to
be distributed to blind people in other countries.

We (EFA) are urging people to raise awareness and contact the
Attorney-General's Department.

cheers,


nic.