Beyond Marrakesh

• Author: Jens Bammel
• Position: Secretary General, International Publishers Association (IPA)
• Pages: 7-10

p. 7WIPO | MAGAZINE

Congratulations on the conclu sion of the Marrakesh Treaty! The adoption of the treaty

text is an important step in h elping readers with print disabilities a round the world to

access books, and is an imp ortant political s tep for all stakeholders.

It is a truism that the conclusion of an i nternational treaty by itself ach ieves little,

since everythi ng depends on national im plementation. For this reason, we shou ld

not spend too much time looking b ack but instead we must look to the future. Th e

road to Marrakesh may not have been easy bu t it was surely shorter tha n the one

that lies ahead.

For each stakeholder the steps re quired to achieve the treaty’s purpose will be

slightly different.

For WIPO, Marrakesh has demonstrated that i t is an organization fully c apable of

realizing international treatie s even in new and difcul t areas. This, in itself, is no

small achievement. Thanks to the wor k of its capable secretariat, WIPO was able to

channel the existing political will, give it direction and produce a decisive result. As its

next step, WIPO must now help its membe r states bring their national laws into line

with the provisions of the treaty. Member states w ill require guidance as they s eek

clarity on how this treat y will work in practice. This is a n important task, es pecially

in view of the high expectations for q uick results.

For the World Blind Union, the treaty cre ates the real prospect that many thousands

of copies of works in accessib le formats currently held in special librar ies in different

countries can be exchange d. This is a great step for the many print disabled per sons

who are connected to such ser vices, and who have the skills and the technology to

access such copies. Ac hieving rapid impleme ntation of the treaty will be a pri ority

before advancing technolog y reduces the need for suc h services or cha nges the

role of the service provid ers. However, a major and daunting task remain s: to reach

and help the vast majorit y of print disabled persons in developing c ountries who are

currently outside of the reach of ch arities that can provide accessible format c opies.

While the direct distribu tion of accessible format works may help address this is sue

in part, signicant gu idance and capacity building will be n eeded to put the relevant

treaty provisions into practice in s uch cases.

Fortunately, there is the political will to hel p. The fact that 51 WIPO member states

signed the treaty after i t was adopted shows that many governments take the issue

of equal access for perso ns with print disabilities seriously, not just as a humani tarian

need but as a policy obje ctive. All WIPO member states will n eed to consider how

the Marrakesh treaty ca n be implemented so that it actua lly improves access. For

many countries this will me an a broader review of their acce ssibility policie s. Only

with extra resources, cap acity building, and local collaborati on with rightholders can

the purpose of this treaty be fu lly achieved. The stakeholders representing per sons

with print disabilitie s will need to determine what role WIPO should play in assisting

them with capacity bu ilding, and with providing acce ss to accessible format co p-

ies. The ‘virtual glo bal accessible libra ry’ which has bee n touted as one possible

model to ensure that the objectives of th e treaty are met would require sig nicant

and appropriate resources.

BEYOND

MARRAKESH By Jens Bammel,

Secretary General, International

Publishers Association (IPA)

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