rightscom

Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies

Part2:Country studies

South Africa

Copyright

Currently copyright is obtained on an individual basis for each and every Braille and Audio book to be produced from the original printcopy. orkshops on the Cost of Reading have been held during the last two years and recently a conference was held, initiated by government to look at all aspects of copyright, including right of access to the visually impaired person and Print-impaired with a view to changing the existing Copyright Act which is seen as outdated and inadequate.

Exemptions/exceptions

Blindlib has been negotiating, and still is, with PASA (Publishing Association of South Africa), for exemptions from application. A legal document has been drawn up for the transfer of publishers’ files and was accepted in principle, at the recent PASA AGM. Other exemptions such as ‘blanket copyright’ and rights to circulate books to visually impaired people S.A. citizens abroad, ILL, numbers of copies, etc. are presently being considered and discussed. Blindlib is seen as a trusted environment by PASA.

At a recent policy review meeting with government the following recommendation was tabled:

“The South African Library for the Blind republishes material in alternative formats for the exclusive use of its constituency membership (i.e. people who have disabilities which impair their ability to read in the usual way). Naturally the republication of material which is subject to copyright limitations must be carried out with due regard to such limitations and in such a way as to ensure that the library does not exceed the bounds of the law. A number of important points refer:

“The operation of intellectual property law in South Africa which seeks to restrict the republication of published material in alternative formats may be unconstitutional as it applies to disabled persons on a number of grounds relating to discrimination. This law effectively substantially hampers access to published literature by disabled people on the grounds that processing an original sighted text to make it accessible (for which copyright royalties have been paid or permission obtained) in such a way as involves reprinting or creation of an audio copy amounts to a use of such copyrighted material for which there is a requirement that further and additional permission must be obtained.

“The requirement that permission must be obtained to convert every text to Braille or audio amounts to an onerous burden on the South African Library for the Blind and the wastage of resources and time lags which disadvantage disabled persons who are members of the library.

“Further support for the position that obtaining copyright permission should not be necessary for republication in alternative formats is the fact that the formats in which materials are republished (namely braille and Daisy audio) are not readily accessible by the general public as the average member of the public does not have the skills or equipment to access these mediums/formats. In addition the South African Library for the Blind limits its distribution of literature to its membership which must meet certain criterion relating to the presence and extent of disability. The risk of republished material falling into the hands of the general public and being used in any useful way is extremely negligible.

“In the light of the above, and for the sake of clarity, it is suggested that a provision be included in the Blindlib Act specifically exempting the South African Library for the Blind from having to obtain copyright permission for the republication of texts in alternative formats for the use of disabled persons who are bona fide members of the library.”