Recently, China submitted to wipo the instrument of ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty, the world's first and so far only human rights treaty in the field of copyright, which will enter into force for China in three months.
What is the Marrakesh Treaty?
The Marrakesh Treaty was by far the only human rights treaty in the field of copyright in the world that aimed to guarantee equal access to culture and education by providing people with print disabilities, such as the blind and visually impaired, through copyright limitations and exceptions. The Treaty, which entered into force on 30 September 2016, is a powerful safeguard for alleviating the scarcity of accessible works in accessible formats and helping to address the global book shortage for people with print disabilities. At present, there are more than 80 Parties to the Treaty, which is the fastest increase in the number of Contracting Parties to international treaties administered by WIPO.
The Treaty makes it clear that beneficiaries are persons affected by multiple disabilities and are unable to read printed materials effectively. The definition is broad and includes people who are blind, visually impaired, have print disabilities or who are physically disabled and unable to hold or turn books.
Only works that are "in the form of words, symbols and/or related illustrations", "whether published or otherwise made publicly available through any medium", including audiobooks, are subject to the norms of the Marrakesh Treaty.
Significance of ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty
There are more than 300 million blind and visually impaired people worldwide, of whom more than 17 million are visually impaired living in China. The national illiterate population with disabilities aged 15 years and over (illiterate or illiterate people) is 35.91 million, and the illiteracy rate is 43.29%. There are 2.46 million school-age children with disabilities aged 6-14 years, accounting for 2.96% of the total disabled population, of which 130,000 are visually disabled children, and 79.07% of visually disabled children are receiving compulsory education in general education or special education schools. As members of the social family, the visually impaired also aspire to easy access to information, appreciate excellent works, and have diverse cultural needs.
The entry into force of the treaty in China means that more than 17 million visually impaired people in China will be nourished by more barrier-free books, accessible audiobooks, barrier-free film and television works, and the barriers to accessible format versions of books and audio-visual publications that have long been plagued by copyright will be broken, and a more colorful world will be presented to this special group.
The Marrakesh Treaty has a very rich definition of accessible format versions, in addition to braille braille editions, there are also large print editions, versions that can be read by people with only weak vision, audiobooks, etc. These rich barrier-free format works, in addition to enabling visually impaired people to appreciate works more equally, receive education, and enhance their sense of well-being in life, will also play an important role in the "going out" of the mainland's excellent culture, and further enhance the international discourse power and influence of mainland copyright.
Picture 1: Braille instruments
Picture 2: WeChat public account audio article
The "big character version" of the textbook born to the sun
Everyone is familiar with Braille books, but they may not know much about what a "big print" textbook is. Here I have to mention again the topic that we have been talking about in the parent group of low-vision children - integrated education.
In the existing external environment of integrated education in China, integrated education allows children with low vision to enter general schools, but they still face great difficulties - ordinary textbooks are too small for children to see clearly. So far, with the efforts of the government, enterprises, social forces, influential individuals and parents, China Braille Publishing House has specially published a "big character version" of textbooks for children with low vision, covering language/mathematics/English textbooks for primary schools 1-6 years.
The large-character textbook is made according to the overall enlargement of the current ordinary school's human-taught textbooks, and the textbook itself is about twice as large as the ordinary textbook (8 open), and the font is also correspondingly enlarged, and it is consistent with the content and typography of the ordinary textbook.
Picture 3: Large print version of the textbook
With such a complete set of large-character textbooks, low-vision children who use assistive devices such as visual aids to learn Chinese characters are more likely to become beneficiaries of integrated education.
A while ago, Kingfisher Vision interviewed a buyer, who is a Lele mother from Beijing. Le Le is 10 years old this year, congenital eye abnormalities, right eye vision of 0.1, left eye is basically invisible, currently enrolled in the fourth grade of Beijing General School. (Kingfisher R4s glasses, modern "sunglasses" for children with low vision | user return visit 01)
Before the R4s glasses were not available, Lele could only use a handheld visual aid to see and write. Now basically glasses have replaced the original method, and the efficiency is much higher. The functions that are mainly used in normal times, in addition to the most commonly used enlargement functions, such as photo preservation, center enlargement and rapid enlargement, are more practical for Lele.
Lele mother once said a sentence that touched the heart of the little assistant, she said: "You are like me, parents who were once very confused and distressed, let us work together, do not give up, we will definitely help the children find a beam of light, maybe the light of medical treatment, maybe the light of science and technology, I am very grateful to kingfisher vision This light brings my son confidence and hope, brings us the warmth and smile of the whole family for a long time." ”
Picture 4: LeLe wears a small essay written by R4s
For low-vision groups, dark or blurred worlds are the norm in their lives. However, we also see that many low-vision groups are self-reliant and love life, many of them have learned to serve the society with a skill, and some people have been admitted to college to realize their dreams.
The entry into force of the Marrakesh Treaty in China will help the vast number of visually impaired groups to obtain richer and more diversified cultural needs, so that they can feel the voice of the times that respects life and maintains dignity, coupled with high-tech assistive devices, the future of low-vision groups must, will be, destined, better! Come on together!