The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will convene a diplomatic conference...

Tuesday. It was a groundbreaking decision after four years of intensive negotiations, said the World Blind Union (WBU) in its news release. The new WIPO treaty would remove copyright barriers and open up a new world of reading to blind people, officials said. The WBU said the problem is that most books are never produced in accessible formats like audio, Braille or large print. “In many countries copyright law prevents these organisations from making accessible copies of the books, and from sending them to others in countries speaking the same language, thereby maximising their small resources,” the WBU said. James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International and a meeting participant, said: “We are pleased the U.S.A. and the European Union have finally allowed this project to go forward, but disappointed that the U.S.A. demanded that deaf people be excluded from the treaty, opposed language to make accessible versions of audiovisual works used in education and training, and that the U.S. and the EU continue to narrow the consumer rights in the treaty.” WIPO Director General Francis Gurry agreed “there is still some distance to travel before the conclusion of the treaty.” In order to build consensus on the draft proposal, the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights will meet in February. Justin Hughes, senior adviser to the U.S. undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property, said more discussions are necessary before the Diplomatic Conference “to clarify and settle as many outstanding issues as possible before June.” Success on these issues is vital “to sustain support at home for our efforts here,” he said.