III. Copyright: Preventing a safeguard from becoming a barrier
The title chosen for this chapter comes from a conference on the use of telematics in the education of VIP, given in Paris on the 2 of June 1998.
Copyright issues are clearly amongst the most important to be faced by the adapted book publishing. It is evident that the visually impaired need their books and other printed documentation in other formats than those usually made available by publishers. The existing copyright law often requires individuals to request copyright permission for each title and this often means considerable delays. There is also a noted increase in refusals to transcribe, due to a growing concern over copyright and ignorance of the increasingly complex technicalities involved. There is a need to be able to make adapted copyrighted material for the VI quickly, efficiently and cheaply and the legislation must protect their right to literacy and to access previously published material without endangering the rights of the original copyright holders.

III.1 International copyright law
There are differences in existing legislation according to the format of adaptive books. Braille and Moon are usually, by common consent, transcribed without any great difficulties, as these are seen as "closed formats" that do not endanger the commercial market. Large print has not generally been covered by legal legislation intended for the VI In most countries and large print publishing is often a commercial undertaking. Electronic methods of reproduction and storage all pose individual copyright problems, while sound recording proves to be particularly difficult to legislate upon because of the number of rights involved. But even for a same format, they can be wide differences in copyright legislation between different countries.

Unsurprisingly, the Scandinavian countries lead the world in this respect. In Finland the production of talking books attains 3000 titles a year. In Scandinavia, the law permits the reproduction of Braille and large print books. Non profit organizations are allowed to make electronic versions for print disable people under the same terms as Braille, Agencies then use passwords, restricted access to a bulletin board or notices at the start of files. In he USA, in 1996, not-for-profit organizations were allowed to produce special format books and magazines without first obtaining permission from the copyright holder. This legislation covers literary works in formats designed specifically for blind and visually impaired readers, including "Braille, audio or digital text exclusively for the use of VIP" It excludes audio 2-track although it would be possible to argue that only in the leisure sector is there a commercial market in audio books and therefore most books recorded for the VI could be considered as belonging to a "closed format".

A report entitled "copyright law and the rights of blind people, published by David Man in October 1997 and commissioned by the RNIB, studied the varying copyright laws in different EU member states and other European countries. It established that, until very recently, there was no provision in legislation for visually impaired people. With the exception of Spain and Portugal whose legislation seems quite liberal other EU members’ legislation makes little or no provision for VI people. Legal alternative formats can only be made with the express permission of the rights holder.
In the UK "Blanket permission" has been granted by certain publishers, avoiding the need for individual permission. This is useful, because, although, concerning Braille, permission is usually granted free of charge, there are many administrative problems and delays can be very long as publishers often take some time to answer queries and requests. The European Union is currently considering a proposal for a directive on copyright and related rights - This would allow member states to make exceptions in their national legislation for VIP. Mandatory exemptions are required though, if new barriers are not to be erected.

III.2 The SEDODEL Project
SEDODEL (Secure document delivery for blind and partially sighted people) is an INSERM (Paris) and Bradford University project that is looking at the technical solutions to the problem of copyright on the Internet. It is difficult to obtain electronic information for creating accessible documents in Braille, large print and synthetic speech because of copyright holders’ reluctance. Sedodel, by creating a secure access system and by protecting the publishers’ rights is attempting to give them the confidence to distribute electronic copies of their publications to organizations or associations for the blind and partially sighted. The Sedodel projects also offers recommendations for changes in European copyright legislation, based on the model in place in the USA.

III.3 Solutions.
Laws are being requested in many different countries to allow the automatic granting of permission to transcribe a document in Braille. It is desirable that Braille should be not be considered an infringement of copyright law and should therefore not require permission of the copyright holder and not necessitate payment of fees. Large print and audio, because they are not "closed formats" are more problematic to legislate upon. It seems clear that cheaper means of production will allow small organizations such as publics libraries and charities to produce adaptive books. The law must take this in account to avoid either disregard for the law or extensive bureaucracy. There is still in most countries, a considerable amount of progress needed to be arrive to a balanced copyright law mutually favorable to both the visually impaired population and to the actors of the publishing chain.

Additional information On the following pages are extracts from a contract between a French publisher and the CTEB, the national transcribing agency. This contract lends the rights for the transcription in Braille of a child’s book to this agency for a duration of 3 years. Article 2 guarantees the exactness of the transcription in Braille, without addition or subtraction of information Article 3 guarantees the mention of the publisher’s name, address and claim to copyright and a sale price for the transcribed book, equal or superior to the price of the original. The adapted publisher is under the obligation to provide information enabling sales and distribution monitoring. Article 4 fixes a royalty of 7% of the book price for each copy sold.

Question sent out to LRSprint, USA, Answered by Peter Jones, rights manager.

How do you obtain right permission form publishers?
Over the past 30 years we have been in this business we have developed relationships with the permissions departments of all the publishers. For our reproductions, primarily for the use of schools, we have agreements with the publishers and many waive any royalty. Some charge 5% or 10%, occasionally as much as 20% royalty that we pay at the end of the year based upon the sales of each book. We do not hold the rights to these books at any time. We secure permission before we sell each title. Many publishers are supportive, referring people to us.
The major difficulty with permissions concerns turnover of staff at the publishers, which is made worse by the fact that the major ones keep buying each other. It can then take a while to educate the new permissions staff member as to exactly what it is we do. In the case of our Cornerstone Series of large print juvenile literature we "buy" the exclusive large print rights for a number of years for each title individually.
We have only recently started this series and so we are on a learning curve. Generally they are affordable, representing an advance payment on a 10% royalty. We specialize in this end of the market so we usually do not end up in a bidding war. Another series, Heritage, are large print classics and are all in the public domain.

Interview with Margaret Mc Pherson of Student Disability Office

1) How many students with visual disabilities do you offer support to?
There are 10 visually impaired students, including two or three new ones. We also welcome dyslexic students or students with other disabilities who may also benefit from similar dispositions. Dyslexic students find speech output facilities especially helpful
2) What facilities do you possess?
We have Braille facilities, coloured CCTV, infra red Broadcasting system, in lecture theater with headphones, speech output facilities, 4-track cassette recorders, Braille labelers, Perkins Braille machines, magnifying sheets and thermal processors
3) What is your role in helping students?
We liaise with lecturers and get the relevant reading lists. We request the books from the RNIB, or if it is needed, directly from the publishers. We also adapt material, especially graphs and formulae for scanning.
4) What are the preferred book formats of the students?
We discuss his or her individual needs with each student. Most seem to prefer audio nowadays although one student prefers Braille. We also use large print, mostly for graphs and other visual interest material.
5) What is your relationship with publishers?
I have been liaising directly with publishers for the past 2 years for the provision of core texts on disks. It has been both rewarding and sometimes frustrating. The first hurdle is identifying the person to approach. I am sometimes directed to the commissioning editor, sometimes to the publishing editor, often I am referred mistakenly to sales or customer service departments. Personnel and actual publishers seem always to be changing. On the whole, most publishers do not seem aware of our requirements.
5) What is their reaction in regard to rights?
We first have to explain the technology employed to adapt these disks and we have to guarantee the integrity of use. We send a written request for permission to copy. Then the answer is usually positive. The problem lies in locating the copy; this can be quite difficult, depending on the date of publication, as it may be stored in the archives. Last year we had such a case. It proved impossible to find out where the book had been physically put together, neither the author or the publisher seemed to know. It is sometimes a real adventure trail, thought there has been some progress. New publications are usually easier to acquire. When the legal difficulties are overcome, the typesetter converts the text into the required format. This can cost around 70£. Some publishers are reluctant to supply us with the disks required but use the RNIB as a clearinghouse.
6) What solutions would you suggest to improve the existing situation?
I believe the situation will improve, although it may take a few years. We need a greater awareness on the part of the publishers and also changes in legislation are required.

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