(in the sense that it is not a culture specific treaty but rather deals with a range of human rights and equality issues of people with disabilities, including culture) milestone was the negotiation of the CRPD in 2006, which was discussed above. No doubt as a result at least in part of the obligations undertaken in this Convention, further activity ensued in the copyright space. The European Commission established a stakeholder forum to examine issues of access by the blind to cultural works, and the World Blind Union (WBU) succeeded in placing the issue of a specific treaty containing exceptions and limitations for the blind on WIPO’s agenda, which eventually resulted in the Marrakesh Treaty in 2013. Full details of the views of people with disabilities of the brouhaha these negotiations are not clear. Yet it is clear is that there was fierce lobbying over large principles and over small words. Some of the issues that arose included whether the proposal should take the form of a Treaty or a recommendation; what types of disabilities should be included; what rights should be included; the class(es) of beneficiaries, the works to be included and the extent of rights in relation to those works, the extent of relaxations to be provided for developing countries, and, tellingly, the relationship to the Berne three step test. Finally, in July 2013 agreement was reached. Some note that because of the publicity surrounding the negotiations this was the only possible outcome because:‘members will feel pressure to do whatever it takes to conclude a treaty because whoever stands in the way of this effort for blind people be branded as a villain.” The “will World Blind Union has welcomed the final Treaty and sees it as a promising base for future action. The Treaty itself is more obviously embedded in the social of disability and in human rights rhetoric than any of the previous measures. This is evident from the preamble: The link between disability and human rights is emphasised: Recalling the principles of non-discrimination, equal opportunity, accessibility and full and effective participation and inclusion in society, proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The preamble also notes that the Treaty is rooted in the social model of disability:
(in the sense that it is not a culture specific treaty but rather deals with a range of human rights and equality issues of people with disabilities, including culture) milestone was the negotiation of the CRPD in 2006, which was discussed above. No doubt as a result at least in part of the obligations undertaken in this Convention, further activity ensued in the copyright space. The European Commission established a stakeholder forum to examine issues of access by the blind to cultural works, and the World Blind Union (WBU) succeeded in placing the issue of a specific treaty containing exceptions and limitations for the blind on WIPO’s agenda, which eventually resulted in the Marrakesh Treaty in 2013. Full details of the views of people with disabilities of the brouhaha these negotiations are not clear. Yet it is clear is that there was fierce lobbying over large principles and over small words. Some of the issues that arose included whether the proposal should take the form of a Treaty or a recommendation; what types of disabilities should be included; what rights should be included; the class(es) of beneficiaries, the works to be included and the extent of rights in relation to those works, the extent of relaxations to be provided for developing countries, and, tellingly, the relationship to the Berne three step test. Finally, in July 2013 agreement was reached. Some note that because of the publicity surrounding the negotiations this was the only possible outcome because:‘members will feel pressure to do whatever it takes to conclude a treaty because whoever stands in the way of this effort for blind people “will be branded as a villain.” The World Blind Union has welcomed the final Treaty and sees it as a promising base for future action. The Treaty itself is more obviously embedded in the social of disability and in human rights rhetoric than any of the previous measures. This is evident from the preamble: The link between disability and human rights is emphasised: Recalling the principles of non-discrimination, equal opportunity, accessibility and full and effective participation and inclusion in society, proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The preamble also notes that the Treaty is rooted in the social model of disability:
ATRIP_2013_Waelde_and_Brown.docx