As news filters through about the famous treaty signed last week, it is worth documenting some of the views:
"Absolutely fantastic and welcome news!" says Denise Nicholson who blogged:
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| Source - Morocco on the Move |
"What a wonderful day to celebrate access to knowledge (A2K) around the world. As a result, and at last, persons with sensory-disabilities will soon be able to enjoy their right to access information and freedom of expression, as well as exercise their 'fair use/fair dealing' rights in copyright - rights they have been deprived of for far too long! At last they will be able to access information in accessible formats and share information across borders. A great achievement for all those who worked so hard to make this happen. A great achievement too for Member States who finally acknowledged that persons with sensory disabilities need to be recognised as people with needs and aspirations like anyone else and that it is time to rid intellectual property laws of discriminatory measures against them. May all Member States sign and ratify this Treaty so that the benefits in the Treaty are adopted as soon as possible into national copyright laws around the world.
So wonderful too, that this Treaty has been debated and agreed upon on African soil! I am so proud to be an African!!"
The Hindu has hailed it as the "Miracle at Marrakesh" in this piece here and the North Africa Post explain that:
"The signing of the treaty was no easy task. Negotiations with publishers and right holders took over a decade before publishers agreed to limit their reproduction rights and the 800 representatives of the 186 member countries of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) attending the Marrakesh conference held sometimes heated debates before they reached a compromise on these restrictions."
The indefatigable IP Watch's Catherine Saez's interview with Martin Morcoso provides further insight on how consensus was reached "in the Nick of Time".
Meanwhile, WIPO website has some historic links, including a video of Stevie Wonder's reaction. Here are some of them:
- Closing of the Diplomatic Conference Video
- Reactions from member states Video
- Reactions from NGOs Video
- Full text of the Marrakesh Treaty
- On social media: Photos on Flickr, Twitter, Videos on YouTube (Visually impaired representatives call for treaty)
