Copyright and Disability: WIPO Consensus Document

Claude AlmansiBy Claude Almansi
Editor, Accessibility Issues
ETCJ Associate Administrator

The ongoing – June 15 to 24, 2011 –  22nd session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/22) of the World International Property Organization (WIPO) is addressing, once again, the problem and removal of copyright barriers to accessing knowledge and information by people who are blind, sight-impaired or have other print disabilities.

In fact, copyright laws are national and — so far — international treaties and legal instruments have systematically aimed at globally reinforcing prohibitions, and rich countries, upholding the position of the content industry, have always opposed  globalization of copyright restrictions in favor of people with disabilities, alleging that if  they were officially globalized by WIPO, this would lead to further restrictions in favor of other groups.

A book about to fall into a rat hole, with rats watching

From David Hammerstein's “I just called to say I want to read” post about a former discussion of a WIPO Treaty for the Blind, Visually Impaired and People with Print Disabilities. Site of the IP Policy Committee of the The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD). Sept. 25, 2010.

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Diversity and Cultural Heritage via Technology

Frank B. Withrow - The Dawn Patrol

When I was a teenager in the 1930s I developed a significant pen pal relation with a boy in Devonshire, England, and a girl in Spain. My Spanish was limited so the exchange with the girl was not very well developed. However, the boy and I corresponded monthly until he joined the RAF and I joined the Marines. We were both Boy Scouts so we exchanged badges etc.

Picture of a child writing with a pen, mirrored as in a Rorschach test

After World War II, I was teaching a class and we sent CARE packages to Europe. My students began to correspond with their European counterparts. When we obtained computers and email became available, I encouraged exchanges. We had classes in San Diego exchanging information with kids in Alaska. In the 1980s, I funded the development of a TV series named Somebody Else’s Place by Aida Barrera. Students lived for a week with their counterparts in the series. A Mexican American kid from Texas might live with a German American kid from Milwaukie etc. They did everything including going to school with the host. The program documented all their activities. Continue reading