The American Library Association Wants to Change eBook Copyright Law

The American Library Association is getting behind a new treaty that would make books and ebooks more accessible to the blind and people suffering from reading difficulties. ALA wants to get permission to start converting publisher’s books from the normal format to braille and super large fonts. The organization also doesn’t want barriers based on geographical location, the removal of which would allow libraries in Europe and Canada share commonly converted books. ALA is running a petition on the main Whitehouse website to lobby for stronger stance at the summit. “Less than 1% of printed works globally are accessible to the blind. This is because laws around the world bar printed material from being turned into formats useable by the blind and visually impaired, or for such material to be shared across borders.” The petition goes on to say, “That's why 186 countries will soon convene in Morocco to finalize a treaty that would empower the world's nearly 300 million blind citizens with the same rights to read, learn, and earn that the sighted enjoy. However, huge and powerful corporations – many wholly unaffected by the proposed Treaty – are working to fatally weaken it or block its adoption.” Sounds like a great idea, who would be opposed to making ebooks available for the blind? General Electric, Exxon, and the motion picture and publishing industries are opposing the treaty. Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office told me exclusively, “Librarians have always been committed to getting information into people's hands in whatever format works for them, and that includes audio and Braille books. In the new modern publishing world, e-readers that are able to translate print to voice provide people with visual disabilities access to a wide range of books. We strongly support the international Treaty for the Blind because we believe that no one should be excluded from information because of where they live.” The American Library Association Wants to Change eBook Copyright Law is a post from: E-Reader News

URL: http://goodereader.com/blog/digital-library-news/the-american-library-association-wants-to-change-ebook-copyright-law/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-american-library-association-wants-to-change-ebook-copyright-law