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Celebrating 10 years since the Adoption of the Marrakesh Treaty!

The Treaty

The WIPO-administered Marrakesh Treaty makes the production and international transfer of specially-adapted books for people with blindness or visual impairments easier. It does this by establishing a set of limitations and exceptions to traditional copyright law.

The Marrakesh Treaty was adopted on June 27, 2013, and entered into force on September 30, 2016.

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Map providing access to a list of contracting parties of the Marrakesh Treaty
(Image: Getty images/calvindexter)

Has your country joined the Marrakesh Treaty?

Marrakesh Treaty @10 Flashback

This year, we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Marrakesh Treaty's adoption, a significant milestone in enhancing access to published works for people who are blind and visually impaired. We acknowledge the progress the members made in implementing the Marrakesh Treaty over the past decade, and look forward to continuing to improve lives of those in need of accessible publishing, everywhere.

Photo of Marrakesh Treaty

Marrakesh Treaty: A promise of a better life

Watch a quick overview of the history of Marrakesh Treaty and the importance of its adoption for over 285 million blind or visually impaired people in the world.

The Marrakesh Treaty in Action

Become a member of the Marrakesh Treaty

All WIPO member states are eligible to become party to the Marrakesh Treaty. To become a member, a state must deposit an "instrument" declaring its intention with the Director General of WIPO. This instrument must be signed by the Head of State, the Head of Government or the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Legislative assistance

As part of its mission, WIPO is always ready to respond to member state requests for review of national legislation in light of treaty provisions.

Contact us to find out more.

Photo of Stevie Wondering speaking at the UN in 2016

"Help others beat the odds like I did; Join the Marrakesh Treaty."

Video: Stevie Wonder speaks about the Marrakesh Treaty at the UN (December 2016).

The Accessible Books Consortium

(Photos: WIPO/Berrod)

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) aims to increase the number of books worldwide in accessible formats (braille, audio and large print) and to make them available to people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled.

ABC involves advocacy organizations, authors, libraries for the blind, publishers and standards bodies.

Find out more about the ABC.

Organizations supporting VIPs ("Authorized entities")

Both governmental and non-governmental organizations play an important role in providing persons who are blind or visually impaired with access to alternative format materials. In recognition of their role, the Marrakesh Treaty sets up some exceptions to copyright that allow such organizations to better serve their beneficiaries.

Become an "Authorized Entity"

The Marrakesh Treaty itself does not require an organization to fulfill any formalities or undertake specific procedures to be recognized as an "authorized entity". However, it also does not limit such measures, meaning that states can decide for themselves.

Organizations wishing to become authorized entities should therefore refer to the applicable national laws, some of which can be found in the results to the questionnaire on cross-border accessibility.

Questionnaire on cross-border accessibility

We send a questionnaire to each Marrakesh Treaty Contracting Party to better understand how they are implementing the Treaty and enabling the cross-border exchange of printed works. The following results are available so far:

  • Afghanistan (2020) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Afghanistan
  • ARIPO (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from ARIPO
  • Australia (2017) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Australia
  • Azerbaijan (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Australia
  • Barbados (2023)PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Australia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana (2017) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Botswana
  • Bulgaria (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Bulgaria
  • Brazil (2017) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Brazil
  • Cabo Verde (2023) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Brazil
  • Canada (2017) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Canada
  • China (2023) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Australia
  • Costa Rica (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Costa Rica
  • Croatia (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Croatia
  • Czech Republic (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Czech Republic
  • Denmark (2021)  PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Denmark
  • Ecuador (2017) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Ecuador, in Spanish (in Spanish)
  • El Salvador (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from El Salvador
  • Estonia (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Estonia
  • Ethiopia (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Ethiopia
  • Finland (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Finland
  • Germany (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Germany
  • Greece (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Greece
  • Guatemala PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Australia (in Spanish)
  • Hungary (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Hungary
  • Israel (2017) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Israel
  • Italy (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Italy
  • Japan (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Japan
  • Jordan (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Jordan
  • Kenya (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Kenya
  • Kyrgyzstan (2023)  PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Brazil
  • Latvia (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Latvia
  • Lesotho (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Lesotho
  • Liberia (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Liberia
  • Liechtenstein (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Liberia
  • Lithuania (2022) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Liberia
  • Luxembourg (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Luxembourg
  • Malawi (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Malawi
  • Mexico (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Malawi (in Spanish)
  • Mongolia (2022)PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Malawi
  • Morocco (2022) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Liberia(in French)
  • Netherlands (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Netherlands
  • New Zealand (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from New Zealand
  • Norway (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from New Zealand
  • Panama (2017) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Panama, in Spanish (in Spanish)
  • Peru (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Peru, in Spanish (in Spanish)
  • Philippines (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Philippines
  • Poland (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Poland
  • Portugal (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Portugal
  • Qatar (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Qatar
  • Republic of Belarus (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Republic of Belarus
  • Republic of Moldova (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Republic of Moldova
  • Singapore (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Singapore
  • Slovakia (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Slovakia
  • Spain (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Spain
  • Sweden (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Sweden
  • Switzerland (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Switzerland (in French)
  • Thailand (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Thailand
  • Trinidad and Tobago (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Trinidad and Tobago
  • United Arab Emirates (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from United Arab Emirates
  • United States of America (2019) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from United States of America
  • Zanzibar (2021) PDF, Marrakesh Treaty questionnaire, response from Zanzibar

Find out more about the Marrakesh Treaty

Publications

Front cover of   Helping to end the global book famine - Introduction to the Marrakesh Treaty

Helping to end the global book famine

Introduction to the Marrakesh Treaty

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