In June 2013, member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted the “Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled”.

Libraries are key to the success of the treaty for two main reasons. Throughout the world, libraries have a long history serving people with print disabilities, and only blind people’s organizations, libraries and other so-called “authorized entities” can send accessible format copies to other countries.

Because the treaty provides countries with important policy options, librarians need to be involved in the development of implementing national legislation to ensure the maximum possible benefit, and to effectively meet the objective of the treaty - to end the book famine for print disabled people.

What will the webinar cover?

This free webinar provides an introduction to the treaty, its key provisions and the role of libraries in contributing to the treaty’s objectives. It will also provide an overview of recommendations for implementation, in particular, recommendations with regard to libraries as ‘authorized entities’ under the treaty.

The guest speaker is Mr. Luis Villarroel Villalon LLM, Professor of Intellectual Property of Universidad Mayor (Chile), and a negotiator of the Marrkesh Treaty.

Recommended reading: The Marrakesh Treaty: an EIFL Guide for Libraries

Registration information

Date: Wednesday, 14 January 2015

Time: 1pm UTC (10am Santiago /1pm Dublin / 2pm Rome). Check the time in your country by going here and comparing UTC or Chile/Ireland/Italy or time with your city/country time. The session will last for one hour, including time for questions.

Who may participate

All are welcome, but priority will be given to librarians from EIFL-partner countries if the event is over-subscribed.

How to register

Please email teresa.hackett [at] eifl.net with the following details:

Your name:

Your job title:

Your institution:

Your country:

Is your institution a member of an EIFL-partner consortium?

How the webinar works

We will use Instant Presenter to connect. All you need is a computer with a browser and internet access. To check that your browser will successfully access the session, please go to instantpresenter.