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Ending the international book drought
Transcript
11 May 2014
Roberta: With the number of books that are available to blind and vision impaired people critically low the Australian Government has been urged to do something about it and here to tell us more is Media Access Australia's Online Editor, Eliza Cussen. Welcome, Eliza.
Eliza: Hi, Roberta.
Roberta: Now, what do we mean when we say accessible book?
Eliza: Well, accessible books come in a variety of formats, including large print, braille and, of course, DAISY, but emerging digital formats like e-books and audio books can also be considered accessible if they're produced in the right way.
Roberta: How many of the world's books are accessible?
Eliza: Digital Australia estimates that actually less than 10 percent of the world's books are available to people who are blind or vision impaired and in the developing world that number can be as low as one percent, which is very troubling indeed.
Roberta: So the question is what can be done to fix it?
Eliza: Well, one solution is to ease copyright laws so that alternative accessible versions of books can be published without infringing copyright. So copyright law is designed to protect the rights of authors which, as a writer, I'm very grateful for but an unfortunate side effect of this is that it makes it harder to get permission from publishers to make alternative versions of books so that blind or vision impaired people can read them. It's a problem where it's a very, kind of, exhaustive process to actually get an accessible book produced. It's incredibly expensive and time consuming and, really, copyright law is one barrier that we can take down. Last year the World Blind Union drafted what's known as the Marrakesh Treaty with other countries have signed it to change their copyright laws. This treaty was signed by 51 countries but so far none of those countries have actually implemented the changes.
Roberta: If publishers only realised that there are other people who like to read books that way as well. You see them on…
Eliza: Exactly, there's a whole readership that's going unsold to.
Roberta: Of course, so how does the Australian Government come into this?
Eliza: Well, I'm sorry to say that Australia was not one of the 51 countries that signed the Marrakesh Treaty but that doesn't mean it's too late. Recently, on World Book Day, Vision Australia and Media Access Australia have urged the Australian Government to not only sign the treaty but also become the first country to ratify it and make it Australian law.
Roberta: How long ago was that, Eliza? Because there's been a change in government, maybe if we approach it again?
Eliza: I believe the Marrakesh Treaty was drafted after the Abbott Government came in but these processes are very slow, so I wouldn't be surprised if the people in government hadn't even heard of this issue.
Roberta: Well, it might have to be brought up again, I think.
Eliza: Exactly.
Roberta: Somebody has to do that. Now, what can listeners do to put the pressure on and I think that's what we need to do?
Eliza: Well, you're exactly right. One option I would recommend to listeners is to contact their local Federal MP. Just shoot them an email or call their office or even just drop in and raise the issue. Like I said, it's quite possible that politicians aren't aware of the issue and, once they do have it forced on them a little bit, chances are they'll care a great deal and the more people know the more likely they are to do something about it.
Roberta: Well, Eliza, I'm going to a function to be held at my local Federal MP's rooms and I think I'll be bringing this up.
Eliza: Excellent.
Roberta: So I think anyone…
Eliza: While you're rubbing elbows you can do a little bit of advocacy.
Roberta: I think that would be a very good thing to do because I think you're right. They may not … they've had so many things on the table that maybe this is something they thought, oh, that sounds like a good idea but we'll do that later. So maybe it does need listeners to contact your local Federal MP, wherever you are, and just keep putting pressure on them.
Eliza: I think it is one of those cases. What we're asking for isn't huge. It wouldn't cost the government or taxpayers any money. It's just a simple change to legislation.
Roberta: Absolutely.
Eliza: So, really, I think the only barrier to it is the lack of understanding.
Roberta: Okay, well, to find out more about access to media and technology, visit Media Access Australia's website, www.mediaaccess.org.au, or call the office with any questions on 02 9212 6242. Well, thank you for all of that today, Eliza, and I hope that our listeners will contact their local Federal MP asking them to have a look at that Marrakesh signature that is really needed.
Eliza: Yes, exactly.
Roberta: I've been speaking with Media Access Australia's Online Editor, Eliza Cussen. Media Access Australia are supporters of this program.