[by Jonathan Band and Peter Jaszi] The Marrakesh Treaty, adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization this past summer, provides Contracting Parties with great flexibility concerning the implementation of its obligations. Article 4(2) sets forth one way a Contracting Party may meet its obligation under Article 4(1) to permit the making and distribution of accessible format copies domestically. Likewise, Article 5(2) sets forth one way a Contracting Party may meet its obligation under Article 5(1) to permit the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies.
Below is a model statute for implementing the framework of Articles 4(2) and 5(2) in domestic law. We are not suggesting that this necessarily is the best approach for achieving the Treaty’s objective of increasing the availability of accessible format copies to the print disabled. Rather, this approach may be the most politically feasible for countries that do not already have an exception for the print disabled in domestic law because it hews so closely to the Treaty text.
