Marrakesh Treaty Options for Implementation

The treaty will help overcome the barriers which affect the availabilty of accessibility of accessible books and other material for people who are print-disabled worldwide.

An estimated 285 million people with vision impairments around the world will benefit from this treaty as it is designed to break down legal barriers that once limited the flow of accessible format literature across borders.

The treaty will allow exceptions to copyright law to enable organisations to produce and distribute books and other materials in formats that are accessible to people with visual impairment. The exceptions will onl;y be used when books in accible format are commercially unavailable.

The treaty was signed by the Australian Government on 23 June 2014, and announced it will now bring it forward for ratification.

The Attorney-General's Department invited comments on the 'Marrakesh Treaty implementation options paper' by public consultation.

The discussion paper guides submissions, not reflect an established policy position.

Relevant Documentation

It was found that no legislative amendments to the Copyright Act 1968 were required in order to comply with the obligations set out by the Marrakesh Treaty. However some technical amendments to streamline and clarify the existing disability copyright regime are desirable. We are currently preparing legislative amendments for this purpose.

In October 2015, the Copyright Act 1968 became the responsibility of the Minister for Communications and the Arts. Previously the Attorney-General had the responsibility for Australian copyright law and policy and this discussion paper was therefore issued by the Attorney-General’s Department.

Australia has ratified the Marrakesh Treaty on 10 December 2015.