Intellectual Property Week 2021

‘Paving the path to growth and development through the protection of Intellectual Property Rights’ INCREASING ACCESS TO COPYRIGHT WORKS FOR BLIND AND DEAF PERSONS THE MARRAKESH TREATY The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to PublishedWorks for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (the Treaty) was signed on June 27, 2013 in Marrakesh, Morocco. The aim of the Treaty is to provide equal opportunity and full access to copyrighted works to those who are blind, visually impaired and print disabled, without seeking authorization from the right holders. The general copyright principle establishes that users of copyrighted material must seek permission to copy, distribute or make copyrighted material available on the internet. Living with a print or visually impaired disability poses several challenges which hinder access to published works. In order to overcome these challenges, the Treaty seeks to provide exceptions and limitations to the rights of copyright owners for persons who are blind, visually impaired and print disabled (VIPs). This access to copyrighted material is not only limited to the blind or visual impaired or print disabled persons, but also extends to an authorized entity or entities acting on behalf of the person with the disability. The Treaty also makes it mandatory for contracting parties to provide cross-border exchange of accessible format copies of works for the benefit of disabled persons. The barriers to accessing copyrighted works exist both at the national and international level. Where the national law of a contracting party provides for the importation of accessible format copies of a work, that contracting party shall also permit the importing of accessible format copies of works for the benefit of the disabled person without the authorization of the copyright owner. To effectively overcome the barriers experienced by the VIPs, contracting parties are mandated to take the necessary steps to ensure technological protection measures (TPMS) used to control access to copyrighted works does not prevent the disabled communities from benefiting from the provisions of the Treaty. Contracting parties also have a duty to protect the privacy of the disabled persons and should in no way discriminate against him or her. This Treaty provides effective provisions to overcoming many challenges accessing copyrighted works by the print and visually impaired communities. THE IMPACT OF THE MARRAKESH TREATY IN JAMAICA Jamaica has included some provisions of the Treaty in our Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2015 and is currently working on a Copyright Bill to amend the Copyright Act, 1993 which will give effect to other provisions not yet incorporated. Section 65A of the Copyright (Amendment Act), 2015 addresses individuals who have a print disability. A person has a print disability if that person is: a) blind; b) suffers from severe impairment of his sight; c) is unable to hold or manipulate printed material d) is unable to focus or move his eyes; or e) suffers any other disability with respect to visual perception Section 65A (1) is instructive as it provides that an authorized body may make or supply copies or adaptations of published literary, or dramatic works for the purpose of providing persons who have a print disability, with copies that are in an accessible format, without infringing any copyright in the literary or dramatic works. As with most provisions, certain conditions must be met in order to undertake the abovementioned acts, which are detailed in S.65(A) (2). One such condition, is that the copies of the works are provided only to persons with a print disability. The provisions of the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2015 also make allocations for persons who are deaf. This is referred to in section 65B of the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2015 which provides that a person with a hearing disability, an approved authorized body or an organization acting on that person’s behalf, may do the following acts without infringing the copyright in the work: a) translate, adapt, or reproduce in sign language a literary or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work, in a format specially designed for persons with a hearing disability; b) perform in public a literary or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work, in sign language, either live or in a format specially designed for persons with a hearing disability. For the purpose of the Act, a person has a hearing disability if that person a) suffers from severe or profound deafness b) is not able to discriminate speech in a meaningful way, from other sounds. NEXT STEPS Jamaica’s aim is to ensure that every citizen with a print disability, visual impairment, or person with a physical disability that prevents them from holding or manipulating a book, or a hearing disability is not denied access to copyrighted works. In this vein, the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) is in the process of recommending amendments to the Copyright Act to include cross-border exchange of accessible format copies of works and more robust provisions for persons with a hearing disability. JIPO continues to work towards creating an environment where there is a balance between the users of copyrighted works and the rights of the copyright owner. In creating this balance, it is imperative that due consideration is given to our disabled communities. SHANTAL ENGLISH Copyright and Related Rights Manager- JIPO JIPO Management team front row left Deputy Director/Legal Counsel, Dr Marcus Goffe, Miss Lilyclaire Bellamy, Executive Director, Jason Wongsam, Asst Patent Manager. Back row: Ms Adrienne Thompson, Manager, Trademarks, Designs and Geographical Indications, Miss Shantal English, Manager, Copyright and Related Rights and Mrs Pashique Palmer-Williams, Director Human Resource Management & Administration. IX