Марракешський договір та авторське право в бібліотечній сфері
The Marrakesh Treaty and Copyright in the Library Sphere

Summary/Abstract: In order to facilitate access to works and their use for the visually impaired, on June 27, 2013, the Diplomatic Conference of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Marrakesh (Morocco) adopted the “The Marrakesh Treaty on the facilitation of access for the blind and visually impaired or with other disabilities to accept printed information to published works”. The accession of countries to the Marrakesh Treaty allows for adequate access for people with visual impairments to published works on the same terms as for people with normal vision. The provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty establish general obligations on restrictions under the Berne Convention, which authorizes the reproduction of works in certain special cases, provided that such reproduction does not harm the normal use of the work and does not unduly affect the legitimate interests of the author. The article reveals the exceptional nature of the Marrakesh Treaty, which combines the law on rights of people with visual problems and intellectual property law, creates the first mandatory restrictions on copyright protection in order to expand access to books for a growing number of people.The implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty into national law will enable libraries to create and distribute copies of works in an accessible format for the visually impaired. In order to protect copyright in the production of works for the visually impaired, the Marrakesh Treaty provides for the establishment of a special “authorized body” in the country, which should be associated with at least one area of society: 1) education, 2) vocational training, 3) adaptive reading or 4) public access to information. Such an authorized body may be any library or other organization that provides services on a non-profit basis.The adoption of the Marrakesh Treaty at the Diplomatic Conference of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Marrakesh is an important step in implementing the basic provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates that everyone, including the visually impaired, can participate fully and equally in political, economic and cultural life of society.

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