[fcb-l] FW: [leadership] WIPO votes yes

[Edwards, Paul]

-----Original Message-----
From: leadership-bounces at acb.org [mailto:leadership-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf Of Marlaina Lieberg
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 7:41 PM
To: leadership at acb.org
Subject: [leadership] WIPO votes yes

Stevie Wonder's vision for the blind and visually impaired comes true
October 24th, 2010 12:07 pm ET
In an unprecedented United Nations-supported initiative, people who are 
blind and
those who have other forms of visual disability will have access to 
published works
through publisher intermediaries who will create accessible formats of 
publications
and share them with specialized libraries.
The initiative is in line with the Declaration by the world-famous 
singer-songwriter
and UN Messenger for Peace Stevie Wonder who on 20 September 2010 called on 
the international
community to take action to enhance accessibility for all those with 
physical disabilities.
The new initiative aims to ensure that people with print disabilities in 
both developing
and developed countries have equal access to published works as persons 
without print
disabilities.
The arrangement was announced on 23 October 2010 at the end of the UN World 
Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) meeting in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
'The success of this project - which represents an effective global 
partnership for
development - will require commitment and investment of all concerned,'
said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry
,who attended the meeting in New Delhi.
Mr. Wonder made his call when he spokeon at the opening of the annual 
meetings of
WIPO Assembliesin Geneva, where he challenged delegates to conclude an 
agreement
on improved accessibility to copyright protected works by visually impaired 
persons
(VIPs).
He was launching his '
Declaration of freedom for people with disabilities
' at the start of the annual meeting of Member States of WIPO.
Wonder said then that the declaration was 'a call to action, a plan to 
empower the
independence of people with disabilities by providing them with the tools to 
learn
and grow.'
'Through your legislative efforts, incentives can be created to advance the 
blind
and visually disabled towards the promise of a better life,' he told the 
ministers
and policy-makers from WIPO's 184 Member States.
It is estimated that only five percent of the world's one million print 
titles that
are published every year are accessible to the some 340 million around the 
world
who are blind, visually impaired or who live with other print disabilities.
Under the initiative, specialized organizations globally, such as libraries 
for the
blind, have taken on the task of adapting these books into Daisy, Braille 
audio or
special digital formats.
WIPO is collaborating with organizations representing authors, publishers 
and blind
and low vision persons, including the World Blind Union and the 
International Publishers
Association to provide access to a wider range of accessible books. 

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