China To Introduce Marrakech Treaty

Visually impaired to get more access to copyrighted reading materials

The visually impaired in China will have better access to reading materials, including foreign texts, as the Marrakech Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, takes effect on May 5.

The document will become active three months after China delivered its ratification papers to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Feb 5.

The only international human rights treaty on copyright currently has 88 signatories, according to the WIPO.

It imposes a set of mandatory limitations and exceptions on traditional copyright laws to benefit people who are visually impaired, who have reading or learning disabilities or who are unable to hold or manipulate a book.