What is the Marrakesh Treaty?

201On June 27th, the member countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization adopted the Marrakesh Treaty on Facilitating the Access of the Blind, Visually Impaired or Other Printers to Published Works (hereinafter referred to as the Marrakesh Treaty), which is based on the human rights principles put forward by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is by far the only human rights treaty in the field of copyright in the world. This Treaty serves the blind, the visually impaired and other people with reading disabilities, and provides convenience for service agencies and organizations of products such as barrier-free books and e-books. By relaxing the restrictions on the right of reproduction and distribution when making accessible versions of adapted works, these institutions can make accessible versions of works without the permission of copyright owners and without paying remuneration. The treaty aims to make it easier to make and exchange books specially adapted for the blind or visually impaired by establishing a set of restrictions and exceptions of traditional copyright law, and to give the blind, visually impaired and other people with reading disabilities more opportunities to obtain and use works. The treaty came into effect on September 30th, 20 16, which effectively improved the scarcity of barrier-free works.