Armenia joins agreement on facilitating access of the blind to  printed information

ArmInfo.Armenia will join the Marrakesh agreement on facilitating access for the blind and people with disabilities to print information. At the meeting of  January 16, the RA Government approved the draft of the relevant law,  which will be submitted for ratification to the National Assembly in  the established manner.

As the Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Avag  Avanesyan noted in his speech, at present only 2% of the printed  matter in the world is accessible for the blind and those with vision  problems. Ratification of the agreement will ensure the availability  of international literature for this category of citizens. The  document solves such problems as the protection of intellectual  property, compliance with formats, defines the authorized structures  responsible for its implementation. Publishers who will publish  international literature will be exempt from copyright protection.  They will not automatically make payments to authors and their  successors. Moreover, the publication of literature for the blind and  visually impaired will be possible without the permission of the  authors, but only if the publishers do not seek to make a profit. The  provisions of the agreement will be extended to libraries. Thus, as  the deputy minister noted, the availability of international  literature for this category of citizens will be ensured.

In turn, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of  Armenia Zaruhi Batoyan emphasized that currently there are about 16  thousand blind and visually impaired people in Armenia. In total,  there are more than 285 million people suffering from this type of  disability in the world. The presented document, as the minister  noted, is another step towards protecting their rights. In addition,  the agreement is in line with Armenia's international obligations.

Note that the contract was signed in Marrakech on June 27, 2013 and  entered into force on September 30, 2016. The application of its  provisions to simplify the production and international transfer of  books adapted for use by blind and visually impaired people. This  goal was achieved by adopting a number of limitations and exceptions  to traditional copyright law. The Marrakesh Treaty has an explicit  humanitarian and social dimension, and its main purpose is to  establish a series of binding restrictions and exceptions in the  interests of the blind and those with visual impairments or other  limited ability to perceive printed information.