(4 December 2017) When they signed the Marrakesh Treaty in 2013, the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organisation committed to removing legal barriers to access to books for people with print disabilities. They opened the way to dealing with a key cause of the book famine – the fact that barely 7% of published books were available in suitable formats.
In order to help libraries benefit from the changes made in law, IFLA is working with librarians to create a new guide for libraries to make the most of the Marrakesh Treaty as a tool for delivering access to information. The guide has gained wide support from organisations such as the World Blind Union, the University of Toronto Scarborough, and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and will provide user-friendly answers to the questions libraries will face in making use of the Treaty’s provisions.
It will offer guidance, explanations and references in the context of potential variation in national laws, and will empower all libraries to make use of their new rights, and provide the best possible service to print disabled users. It is expected to be published in early 2018.
IFLA has the full story here.
