Visually impaired people set to benefit from amended copyright law
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Loading... - Andrew Jean
- 14 Mar 2023
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A teacher helps people with disabilities who are visually impaired students at Masaka in Kigali.. Craish Bahizi
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has announced that the amendment of the law on protection of intellectual property proposes to make it legal to produce and distribute copies of works in formats accessible to people with visual impairment without seeking the authorization of rights holders could be adopted within four months.
Examples of accessible formats include Braille, books on devices such as Orbit Readers, books with audio components among others.
According to the Marrakesh Treaty, each country is required to create one or more limitations or exceptions to copyright law meaning a range of acts are permitted without infringing copyright in the interests of beneficiaries.
Also read: Rwanda accedes to Marrakesh Treaty to deepen inclusiveness of persons with disability.
The Marrakesh Treaty was adopted on June 27, 2013 and it entered into force on September 30, 2016. The treaty was ratified by Rwanda on September 7, 2020. It builds up a relationship between intellectual property treaties and human rights conventions, especially the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The treaty wants governments to establish a set of limitations and exceptions to traditional copyright law.
However, the Rwanda Copyright Law still has barriers to the treaty’s implementation as it requires that before making any materials accessible, permission needs to be sought from the owners or publishers of such works to protect their businesses. Read More…
