Outline of the presentation at the CopyrightX Summit 2019, Harvard law School, May 14, 2019

1. Marrakesh Treaty
Implementation in Indian
Libraries
Dr Arul George Scaria
Assistant Professor and Co-Director, Centre for Innovation, IP and Competition
National Law University, Delhi
CopyrightX Summit 2019, Harvard Law School, May 14, 2019

2. Why should we talk about
Marrakesh Treaty?

3. More than 90% of all published
material not accessible to the
blind or partially sighted
[World Blind Union]

4. Around 39 million people
are blind and 253 million
have a vision impairment,
[World Health Organisation]

5. Marrakesh Treaty - Key aspects
 Provides certain mandatory limitations and exceptions for the
benefit of the blind, visually impaired, and otherwise print disabled
 Relatively broad definition for beneficiary persons
 Allows import and export of accessible format copies under certain
conditions
 Sufficient flexibilities for contracting parties to implement the
provisions

6. Marrakesh Treaty – Some facts
 Adoption of the text - June 27, 2013
 20 ratifications - June 30, 2016
 Entry into force - September 30, 2016
 Total number of contracting countries – 55 (As on May 9, 2019)
 First country to ratify – India (June 24, 2014)

7. Key provisions – Indian Copyright Law
 Exception provision - Sec. 52(1)(zb) - allows adaptation, reproduction,
issue of copies or communication to the public of any work in any
accessible format - by any person/ organisation - only the cost of
production can be recovered - organisations should ensure that
accessible copies are used only by persons with disabilities - take
reasonable steps to prevent their entry into ordinary channels of
business
 Compulsory license - Sec. 31B - can be used by persons working for
the benefit of persons with disability on a profit basis or for business

8. IMPLEMENTATION
STATUS?

9. Study 1
Accessibility Study 2019 (January -)
Dr Arul George Scaria
Research Assistant: Ms Bharti

10. Methodology
 Sampling: Purposive sampling, Librarians - Institutions of National
Importance (92) and Central Universities (49), as per the University
Grants Commission
 Survey/ interviews
 Total responses received: 17

11. Key questions and preliminary findings
 Number of institutions having a disability policy?
 How many books have been digitised by the library so far, for students
with disabilities?
 How many students with disabilities currently have access to those
digitised collections?
 If the library is providing computer access facilities to users, do they
have software for providing access to disabled students (for example,
JAWS Screen Reader)?
 Is the library having inter-library loan agreements with other libraries for
sharing digitised resources?

12. Study 2
Open Science India Report (Forthcoming)
Principal Investigator: Dr Arul George Scaria
Research Fellows: Ms Shreyashi Ray and Ms Rishika Rangarajan

13. Methodology
 Mixed methods approach
 Sampling: Purposive sampling
 Phase I: Researchers from five disciplines (Economics, Law,
Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, and Physics) belonging to top
three research institutions (physics - only two) in their respective
fields in India (N=251)
 Phase II: Researchers from any discipline working at Indian
institutions (N= 415; 230 respondents after screening)
 Draft version of the report and datasets: https://osf.io/sdftu/

14. INSTITUTIONAL MEASURES FOR ACCESS TO RESEARCH OUTPUTS FOR PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES –

15. INSTITUTIONAL FACILITIES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES -

16. Study 3
Visually Impaired Persons and Access to Copyrighted Works: The
Indian Roadmap (Forthcoming, 2019)
Principal Investigator: Ms Anjana Girish
Research Assistant: Ms V Saraswathy

17. Methodology
 Sampling: Purposive sampling, diverse stakeholders within state of
Kerala
 Semi-structured interviews
 Sample size: 15

18. Key findings
 Access to copyrighted works for visually impaired persons in Kerala
remains low
 Key issue - lack of effective implementation of copyright law provisions
 Adequate attention required from the side of the government towards
effective implementation of the provisions

19. ROAD AHEAD

20. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
AWARENESS CREATIONamong/ by all stakeholders
Creating SHAREDRESOURCES
MANDATES from the funding agencies
Robust MONITORING
THINKING BEYONDgovernment support

21. COMMENTS/ SUGGESTIONS:
arul.scaria@nludelhi.ac.in
@arulscaria
THANK YOU!