Visually Impaired Persons in China Share High Hopes for the Entry into Force of the Marrakesh Treaty in China

December 13, 2020

On December 10, 2020, the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) and the WIPO Office in China（WOC）visited the Visual Impairment Center of Zhejiang Library in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. A research symposium on the Implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty in China was also held. Representatives from China Braille Press, China Braille Library, Zhejiang Library, Zhejiang Provincial School for the Blind and Zhejiang Provincial Association for the Blind introduced their work on providing and facilitating the use of "accessible formatted works" for the visually impaired. Representatives of visually impaired persons shared about their thoughts and difficulties in accessing and using accessible formats, meanwhile expressing their hopes for the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty in China which will bring great convenience to the visually impaired. Ms. Liu Hua, Director of the WOC, and Ms. Zhao Xiuling, Deputy Director General of the Copyright Department of NCAC, attended the meeting and delivered concluding remarks.

Ms. Liu Hua, on behalf of WIPO, thanked the Chinese government, the NCAC in particular, for its active participation and support in the signing and ratification process of the Marrakesh Treaty. Ms. Liu also expressed confidence in the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty in China.

Ms. Liu said that the Marrakesh Treaty, as the only human rights treaty of the international intellectual property treaties administered by WIPO, is of great importance in providing access to and facilitating the use of works by the visually impaired persons and other disadvantaged groups who cannot read normally due to their disabilities. The WOC will spare no effort to support the ratification and implementation of the Treaty in China, and to facilitate the use of accessible formats by visually impaired persons.

The Marrakesh Treaty, adopted on June 27, 2013 in Marrakesh, is the latest addition to the body of international copyright treaties administered by WIPO. It has a clear humanitarian and social development dimension and its main goal is to create a set of mandatory limitations and exceptions for the benefit of the blind, visually impaired and otherwise print disabled (VIPs). The Marrakesh Treaty entered into force on September 30, 2016 and covers 102 countries by now. The Treaty is a powerful guarantee to alleviate the scarcity of works in accessible formats for the visually impaired persons and to end the “book famine” worldwide.