In December 2017, the Irish government issued a public consultation on transposition into national law of European Union (EU) Directive 2017/1564 implementing the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities.

Irish transposition of the Directive could serve as a model not only for other EU member states, but also for EU candidate countries and potential candidates.

EIFL’s response to the consultation

Responding to the consultation, EIFL provided examples of how people living in Ireland will benefit from the Marrakesh Treaty, and recommended that the current requirement for government oversight of institutions qualifying as ‘designated bodies’ in the Irish Copyright and Related Rights Act should be removed, as it is not in keeping with the inclusive spirit and letter of the Directive or the Treaty. EIFL also stressed how national implementation should not place unnecessary barriers on libraries and other institutions empowered by the treaty to create and share accessible format copies.

In particular, EIFL welcomed the intention of the Irish government not to introduce a compensation scheme for the making of accessible format copies, because it would place an undue burden on institutions, such as libraries, that make and share accessible format copies.
Read EIFL’s response here.

Background

As an EU member state, Ireland will implement the Marrakesh Treaty through its transposition of European legislation adopted in 2017. There are two pieces of legislation: a Directive to facilitate copying and cross-border exchange of content within the EU, and a Regulation that lays down rules on the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies between the EU and third countries.

The Irish Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation invited submissions to a public consultation on the transposition of Directive (EU) 2017/1564 into national law. The closing date for submissions was 24 January 2018. All EU member states, including Ireland, are obliged to transpose the EU Directive into national law by 11th October 2018. Then the EU is expected to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty so that it enters into force in European member states.

The goal of the Marrakesh Treaty is to help end the book famine, the fact that only about 7% of published works are made available globally in accessible formats, such as Braille, audio and large print, and digital formats.

EIFL supports ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty and its implementation into national law. Read more here.