Treaty allows visually impaired Chinese access to more books

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled people in China will have more access to copyrighted books with the international Marrakesh Treaty taking effect in the country, said an official Monday.

Meant "to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print-disabled," the Treaty has attracted wide Chinese media coverage after it entered into force on May 5 in China. The country has 17.3 million people with visual impairment, and the number of print-disabled readers is even more.

For these people, the most effective way to learn about the culture and receive an education is to read works in Braille, large print, audio versions, and other accessible formats. However, they were denied access to barrier-free reading materials mainly due to copyright restrictions, said Zhao Xiuling. Zhao is the deputy head of the copyright management division under the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and made the remarks at an online press conference.

The Marrakesh Treaty mandates making accessible-format copies without seeking permission from rightsholders, letting more visually impaired people share fairer rights in acquiring culture and receiving education.

Less than 10 percent of millions of published works worldwide each year are available in accessible formats for people with visual disabilities.

From 2016 to 2020, China published more than 10,000 copyrighted works in barrier-free formats. But the number was much less than that of the books and periodicals published in the period, unable to meet the demand of print-disabled people, Zhao added.

She also noted that China, in recent years, has made multiple revisions to its copyright law to eliminate copyright-related obstacles for print-disabled people, making legislative preparations for the ratification and implementation of the Treaty.