On February 2, 2016, Peru ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco, in June 2013. Peru had already signed the treaty in June 28, 2013.
Countries ratifying the Marrakesh Treaty agree to facilitate access of published works in accessible formats for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled, as well as to introduce minimum standards for limitations and exceptions to domestic copyright law to allow for reproduction and distribution. Additionally, the treaty allows cross-border exchange of these works in order to facilitate import and export of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works in different languages.
The Marrakesh Treaty was adopted on June 27, 2013, and will come into force once it has been ratified by 20 eligible parties. Seven out of the 14 countries that have so far either ratified or acceded to the Marrakesh treaty are from the Latin American region, with Peru joining Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
On February 10, 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama recommended that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Marrakesh Treaty, and gave its advice and consent to its ratification.
According to the World Blind Union (WBU), over 90 percent of the material published worldwide is not accessible to blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled people.
Originally published on 24 February 2016 in
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