To fulfill the promise of the right to read for blind, visually impaired and other print disabled people, EIFL is supporting ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty in partner countries, and its implementation into national copyright law.
The Marrakesh Treaty (official name: Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled) improves access to knowledge for print-disabled people by giving organizations like libraries the right to reproduce printed works in accessible formats such as braille, audio, large print and digital formats, and to exchange these works across national borders.
In Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz Library and Information Consortium (KLIC), took the the lead in campaigning for accession to the Marrakesh Treaty.
As a result, on 9 March 2017, the President of Kyrgyzstan approved amendments to the Kyrgyz Copyright Act to implement provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty into national law.
On 15 May 2017, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic deposited its instrument of accession to the Marrakesh Treaty at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Treaty will enter into force in the Kyrgyz Republic on 15 August 2017.
And because the Treaty’s provisions have already been implemented into national copyright law, libraries in Kyrgyzstan can then immediately start to provide accessible format copies and to exchange materials with libraries in other countries that have ratified the Treaty.
The law for accession to the Treaty and changes to national copyright law are great achievements for the library community, the local blind community, policy-makers and elected representatives who worked closely together, and a significant step in increasing access to reading materials for people in Kyrgyzstan with print disabilities.
There are over 13,000 people with visual impairment in Kyrgyzstan, many of whom are unemployed. A major contributing factor to unemployment and lack of social integration among blind and visually impaired people everywhere is extremely limited access to books and other learning materials in accessible formats such as braille, audio and large print, and digital formats.
The lack of accessible reading materials – known as the ‘book famine’ - is partly due to barriers created by copyright law, barriers that the Marrakesh Treaty seeks to remove.
Right to read - Right to knowledge
In December 2015 EIFL supported the Kyrgyz Library and Information Consortium (KLIC), EIFL’s partner library consortium in Kyrgyzstan, to initiate a seven month project entitled ‘Right to read, right to knowledge’.
The goal of the project was to kickstart a campaign for reform in copyright law to ensure equal opportunities for all citizens, including persons with disabilities, and to promote ideas about open education and free access to knowledge in the digital era. The project was managed by Sania Battalova, KLIC Vice President, who was at the time EIFL Country Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan, and funded by the Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan.
December 2014 - December 2017
Main activities and achievements
- December 2014: EIFL engaged ARTE, a local law firm, to translate the EIFL guide to the Marrakesh Treaty into Russian, and to compare provisions on disability and libraries in Kyrgyz copyright law with the EIFL draft law on copyright. (The EIFL draft law is a practical guide to assist librarians, as well as their legal advisors and policy-makers, when national laws are being updated.)
- 28-29 May 2015: EIFL supported Sania Battalova to give a presentation on the Marrakesh Treaty at a WIPO Regional Workshop on the Beijing and Marrakesh Treaties in Tbilisi, Georgia.
- 3-4 September 2015: EIFL supported participation of Sania Battalova and Aisulu Chubarova, Partner in ARTE Law Firm, to attend and speak at ‘Enabling Universal Access and Preservation of Knowledge through Libraries: Copyright Matters’, a regional seminar co-organized by EIFL in Kathmandu, Nepal, that featured the Marrakesh Treaty.
- 16-18 September 2015: EIFL supported Sania Battalova to participate in a regional workshop on the Marrakesh Treaty organized by the Asian Blind Union in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
- 2 February 2016: EIFL participated in a one-day international conference in Bishkek entitled 'Copyright in the Digital Age: Access to Information and Knowledge', organized under the project ‘Right to read, right to knowledge’. Participants included members of parliament (MPs) Natalia Nikitenko and Dastan Bekeshev, who went on to become sponsors of a bill, together with five other deputies, introducing the Marrakesh Treaty into Parliament and successfully steering it through the legislative process.
“KLIC is very grateful to EIFL for our work advocating together for the Marrakesh Treaty. We learnt about the importance of the Treaty for blind and visually impaired people in Kyrgyzstan so that people are strong and equal in their right to access information. Above all, participating in law-making procedures was a great professional experience.” - Sania Battalova, Project Director, Right to Read - Right to Knowledge
- 9 March 2017: the President of Kyrgyzstan approved amendments to the Kyrgyz Copyright Act to implement provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty into national law.
- 27 March 2017: the President signed into law a bill for accession to the Marrakesh Treaty [read the accession announcement in English; in Russian].
- 27 April 2017: video message by EIFL welcoming recent changes in Kyrgyzstan's copyright law at a panel discussion 'Open Education Resources and Copyright' hosted by the American University of Central Asia (AUCA).
- 15 May 2017: Government of the Kyrgyz Republic deposited its instrument of accession to the Marrakesh Treaty at WIPO. The Treaty enters into force in the Kyrgyz Republic on 15 August 2017.
EIFL will support translation of the copyright law amendments into English, and the development of a policy guide covering the practical aspects of the new amendments to encourage libraries in Kyrgyzstan to make use of the new law.
FIND OUT MORE
See the amendments to the Kyrgyz Copyright Act [in Russian]
Read EIFL’s letter of thanks to MP Bekeshev [in Russian and English].