16.10 Until recently, international copyright law has permitted, but not required, countries to include exceptions for access for persons with disability. The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled (the Marrakesh Treaty) was adopted on 27 June 2013. The Marrakesh Treaty requires parties to provide exceptions to copyright to facilitate the availability of works in accessible formats. The exceptions should allow certain uses of copyright material by institutions (‘authorised entities’) and by individuals (for personal use). Australia is not yet a signatory to the Marrakesh Treaty.
16.11 Australia is a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which requires parties to ‘ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials’.
J Sullivan, Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for the Visually Impaired (2007), 9.
Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled, (adopted by the Diplomatic Conference, Marrakesh, 27 June 2013), art 4(1).
Ibid art 4(2).
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13 December 2006, ATS 12 (entered into force on 3 May 2008).