Action for access: IFLA releases January 2022 edition of Marrakesh Monitoring Report
20 abril 2024
The latest update to IFLA’s Marrakesh Monitoring Report sets out how countries around the world are protecting (or not) the rights of people with disabilities to access to information. IFLA is grateful to all those who have contributed.
The Marrakesh Treaty is approaching its 10th anniversary with 100 countries now covered by its provisions.
The Treaty remains a key victory in efforts to address the challenges created by over-broad copyright regimes creating market failures leading to the under-provision of books and other materials, in this case to people with print disabilities.
IFLA has been monitoring implementation efforts by countries for some years already, and has now released the January 2022 update of its overview.
Through the chart, you can get an idea of the laws in place in different countries, and in particular whether governments have chosen not to introduce harmful provisions which can limit its effect, such as obligations to make supplementary payments, check on commercial availability, or impose additional administrative requirements.
It also looks at which countries have decided not to limit possibilities for people with disabilities and the institutions that support them, such as libraries, to those types of disability covered by the Treaty.
The 2022 update shows that a large majority of countries are choosing not to hold libraries back in their efforts to provide access to information, and indeed are extending the benefits of Marrakesh to people with other disabilities, at least domestically.
This provides a useful reference for libraries in other countries which are still looking to update their laws.
Read more in the update!
Marrakesh Monitoring Report - January 2022 Update
The chart below is an updated version of previous monitoring reports. Where a country has been updated or added since the last report, this is indicated with an asterisk. Information is sourced from contacts with library associations and associations representing people with print disabilities. In m...
We are also seeing very positive examples of how the Marrakesh Treaty has enabled action on the ground. For example, at the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) in the United States, the implementation of the Treaty has bolstered its ability to serve its patrons in collaboration with its nation-wide network of libraries and partner institutions.
NLS has imported over 1,600 works obtained via the Treaty into its collection, enhanced searching by language on its Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) interface, started a new digital publication (Foreign Language Quarterly) and continued to research potential patrons and stay attuned to its network in order to identify books that are in demand by patrons. These steps have led to NLS patrons downloading Marrakesh-obtained content more than 36,000 times in just over a year.
But not only NLS patrons have benefited from NLS participation in the Marrakesh Treaty. Through collaboration with Canada’s Centre for Equitable Library Access, and the Accessible Books Consortium Global Book Service, NLS has made over 101,000 audio, braille, and music scores available for immediate download by other Authorized Entities (AEs), complementing the many books provided by AEs around the world. NLS is extremely pleased with the progress that has been made toward alleviating the book famine and building a world where all may read.