Charities working in five different English speaking countries had to produce five identical braille master files for the same Harry Potter book. This is because copyright law stops us from sharing files internationally.
RNIB is supporting a proposed "WIPO Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons". This would allow works made accessible under a copyright exception in one country to be shared with other countries, whilst respecting the rights of the authors and other rights holders.
Latest News
RNIB/ EBU petition to the European Parliament leads to a change of heart from the EU on our books without borders treaty.
Until now, the EU negotiators at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), represented by the European Commission (the EU's bureaucracy) and the Council (the EU's 27 governments) have been blocking agreement on our Book without Borders treaty.
Last September, RNIB, on behalf of the European Blind Union, petitioned the European Parliament on the matter. We asked MEPs to press the Commission and Council to change their position and support our treaty.
This week, on 15th and 16th February, this work achieved its goal. The top Commission official responsible for the matter, French Internal Market Commissioner Barnier, under heavy pressure from MEPs of all parties, agreed to back a binding treaty.
We still need to work hard with our EBU allies to get the EU governments to back the treaty, but this is a big step in the right direction.
For more information, please visit the European Blind Union's website
Authors get behind Books without Borders
We've already had support from well known authors including:
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Jacqueline Wilson
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Michael Palin
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Hilary Mantel
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Frederick Forsyth
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Lionel Shriver
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Dirk Robertson
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Kate Mosse
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Joanna Trollope
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Noam Chomsky
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Tony Hawks
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Simon Mawer
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Christopher Simms
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Sarah Waters
These authors have joined hundreds of authors across the world supporting this treaty.