For over 10 million visually impaired people in India access to the written word is a challenge. Internationally and nationally, the right of people with disabilities to Read and access the written word is well established.
The Constitution of India reiterates the equality of status and opportunity to all in its articles 16 and 19. The Persons with Disability Act, 1995 recognizes the equality of rights of persons with disability in India.
As a more clear affirmation to the Right to Read, National Policy for Persons with Disability, 2006 in Part IV, Sec. 48 (iv) states “creating and making teaching/learning tools and aids such as educational toys, Braille/talking books, appropriate software, etc. to be made available and to provide incentives to expand facilities for setting up of general libraries, e-libraries, Braille-libraries and talking books libraries, resource rooms, etc.”
Internationally the same right has been affirmed by UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disability - Dec 2006, Article 9 – Accessibility states “ To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia: (a) Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities, including schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces; (b) Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services.”
Article 21 of Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information which states “(a) Providing information intended for the general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and without additional cost”
The Berne Convention, 1979 had already acknowledged in its Article 9(2): “It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to permit the reproduction of such works in certain special cases, provided that such reproduction does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author”
Keeping the international copyright precedent over 120 countries have already suitably amended their laws some of them being United States of America, Section 121 (the Chafee Amendment of 1996), United Kingdom, the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act of 2003 , Denmark, Section 17 of the Danish Copyright Act of 2003, Canada, Section 32 of the Copyright Act of 1997.
Given all of this, its time that persons with disabilities in India get their Right to Read not only enshrined in the larger laws but incorporated in the Copyright laws of the country as also to make right a reality in practice.
Towards doing this the DFI has endorsed the representation submitted by the Publication Access Coordination Committee (PACC) to the Indian Copyright Office. To read the full representation click the representation