What is the Marrakesh Treaty? Marrakesh Treaty Review

The Marrakesh Treaty provides a series of copyright exceptions and limitations for visually impaired people to facilitate the production, distribution, import and export of accessible format works. The treaty stipulates that "authorized entities" are non-profit intermediaries that provide an international legal basis for visually impaired people to obtain works.

The treaty allows copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired people. It sets a norm for countries that ratify the treaty to have domestic copyright exceptions covering these activities and allowing the import and export of such materials. By the end of the Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference, 63 countries had signed the treaty. Twenty ratifications were required for the treaty to enter into force; the 20th instrument of ratification was received on June 30, 2016, and the treaty entered into force on September 30, 2016.

approve

India was the first country to ratify the Treaty on 24 July 2014. As of 15 October 2018, 80 countries have signed the Treaty and 105 have ratified it, including the 28 Member States of the European Union, which have ratified it as a single entity (Notification 45), and most recently, Iceland.

The EU ratified the Treaty for all 28 member states on 1 October 2018. The provisions of the Treaty came into force throughout the EU (including the UK) on 1 January 2019.

On January 31, 2020, the UK left the EU. However, it is covered by the EU's ratification of the Treaty before December 31, 2020. The UK deposited its instrument of ratification on October 1, 2020. This means that from January 1, 2021, the UK will become an independent contracting party.

On September 20, 2017, the European Commission published a directive and a regulation on the Marrakesh Treaty, which must be transposed into national law in all 28 member states; the deadline for transposition is October 11, 2018. Member states are required to update their national laws later in 2018 to implement the requirements of the Treaty. This follows a long and occasionally contentious process that began soon after the Treaty was initially adopted. In March 2015, the Council of the European Union accused the European Commission of delays in adopting the Treaty and called on the Commission to "submit without delay the necessary legislative proposals". Some EU member states continue to express opposition.

On June 28, 2018, the United States Senate approved the bill and the implementing bill, S. 2559, without significant opposition; the House of Representatives unanimously passed S. 2559 on September 25, 2018. The bill and the treaty were signed into law by President Trump on October 9, 2018. As a result, on February 8, 2019, the United States of America officially acceded to the treaty.

On October 23, 2021, the 31st session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress of China decided to approve the Marrakesh Treaty signed on June 28, 2013, and declared that it applies to Hong Kong but not to Macao. On February 5, 2022, China completed the formalities of submitting the instrument of ratification to the World Intellectual Property Organization, and it will take effect in May of that year.