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Melanie Johnson MPJoint Industry "Copyright and Visual Impairment" Guidelines |
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SPEECH BY MELANIE JOHNSON, MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CONSUMERS AND MARKETS AT THE LAUNCH OF COPYRIGHT GUIDELINES FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE WEDNESDAY 31 OCTOBER I would like to say how pleased I am to be with you today, for the official launch of the Joint Industry "Copyright and Visual Impairment" Guidelines. I am sure I don't need to tell you what an important step the Guidelines are in helping visually impaired people to gain better access to copyright protected material. Anyone who reads the Guidelines will immediately recognise the tremendous amount of work and goodwill that has gone into their formulation. I know that organisations representing visually impaired people have worked hard to explain the needs of people who cannot access material in the form in which it is published. But, to have any real meaning, as many rights holders as possible had to be brought on board. Views were listened to, concerns aired, justifiable fears put in context... and at the end of the day willingness to help has overcome all the concerns to deliver these very useful Guidelines. Those who have worked so hard to bring the Guidelines into being are to be thanked, and congratulated. Well done. Why are the Guidelines so important? Copyright law quite rightly provides the framework to protect creativity and allow authors and others to obtain rewards for their endeavour and investment. Copyright material is often very easy to copy and it is often forgotten that there is a value in the copyright material beyond the pieces of paper on which it is recorded. But we must recognise the value in the creativity itself and this is the purpose of copyright law. The law allows copyright owners to be both rewarded when they publish their copyright material themselves and when they give others permission to use it. I know that the organisations representing visually impaired people understand and accept the principles of copyright law. But visually impaired people are often inadvertently excluded from much of the material that most of us take for granted, and copyright law can sometimes pose something of a challenge in overcoming this exclusion. Thus, copyright law has been seen by some as a barrier for visually impaired people who need to be able to access copyright material for study. Visually impaired people have been barred from fully partaking in the pure pleasure offered by the great wealth of copyright material that the United Kingdom, perhaps more than any other country, gives to the world. I do not believe that copyright owners desire this exclusion to be the case. Indeed, our very presence here today to launch the Joint Industry Guidelines demonstrates otherwise. Government too has been looking at the issue of copyright and visually impaired people, but I will return to that later. It is important, therefore, to recognise, and acknowledge that all of us here today, are, I believe, committed to reducing the exclusion that visual impairment can cause. I believe that we all want to improve access for visually impaired people to the wealth of material that is now available to so many. Whether in book form, or on newer carriers like tape, CD-Rom and the Internet the choice seems endless. For some though, the choice remains severely curtailed, although technological advances in both the carrier and things like screen readers will, I hope, actually lead to improved access for all in the future. But today E-books are still relatively rare and so for problems that exist today and for some considerable time, the Guidelines are an important step forward. Without question, the Guidelines include important elements. That visually impaired people will be able to transcribe, or have someone else transcribe for them, a lawfully obtained copy of a published work, without having to obtain permission, is tremendously important. The provision for the making and keeping of an electronic copy which can then be stored for as long as it is needed by the visually impaired person, albeit with some provisos, shows great trust, and as such, is very much a leap of faith by the rights-owners, and also, I believe, a clear indication of hope for the future. However, the great willingness that we all have in wanting to support visually impaired people in this, should not, and cannot, completely override the legitimate rights of the owners of copyright protected works. From the authors and creators who share their creativity and insights with us, to the people and organisations who make the material available to the world, by investing large sums of money and effort into promoting, producing and disseminating the work - all need, and are entitled to receive, recompense for that effort. Without reward, there might well be less creativity, less academic effort, less glorious human imaginative expression for us all to enjoy. But thanks largely to the wealth of goodwill that exists, efforts have been made on both sides, and contacts have been strengthened and expanded. Sharing of information, clarification of problems, explanations concerning the potential threats, and details of very real, ongoing frustrations have been exchanged. And as a result, a greater understanding has arisen, leading ultimately to the Joint Industry "Copyright and Visual Impairment" Guidelines. I believe, therefore, that one of the greatest achievements of the Guidelines is the dialogue that they have brought about. The willingness to hear the voice of the other side, and to face a sometimes-daunting task full-on, are things of which the industry is justified in being very proud. All the copyright owners represented here tonight - authors, composers, publishers and so on - can take great pleasure in celebrating the launch of the Guidelines. It is, of course, entirely appropriate that those representing visually impaired people have been invited here too to share in the celebration. The dialogue that has led to the Guidelines will, I hope, continue. I hope that this positive engagement between all the parties will endure as I know that the Guidelines are only a partial solution to access problems for visually impaired people. I know, moreover, that some matters that would facilitate cheaper and better transcription of material to alternative formats like Braille do not involve copyright problems. It is important that the dialogue continues against the background of mutual trust and understanding that has been developed so that all problems that exist now or that might arise in the future can be explored. Of course, Government too has a role to play. As I am sure many of you are already aware, the Department has recently undertaken a consultation exercise on a possible exception to copyright, for the benefit of visually impaired people. A summary of the responses to the consultation has just been issued. We are not yet in a position to say precisely what we might do as a result of that consultation, but I would like to confirm today that we remain committed to the principle of an exception to copyright for the benefit of visually impaired people. I believe it is unlikely that voluntary solutions alone will solve all the problems of access to copyright material for visually impaired people. We believe, therefore, that a new exception can and must complement voluntary solutions such as the Guidelines to ensure the fullest possible access to copyright material for visually impaired people. The form of an exception that was outlined in the consultation paper was not universally welcomed, but we still believe that an exception that provides clarity and elaboration of what can and cannot be done without infringing copyright will be most beneficial to all. Everyone feels better knowing where the lines are drawn, without having to resort to litigation. We will be working with representatives of visually impaired people and copyright owners over the coming months to develop the detail of such an exception further. This does not mean that the Guidelines are unnecessary or about to be overtaken by events. On the contrary, an exception will, we hope, be developed in the light of the work on, and experiences gained from, developing the Guidelines. An exception provided by law can, however, ensure that those issues that might, perhaps, never be addressed by voluntary solutions alone, can be tackled. In this, as in so much else in the copyright world, a delicate balancing act has to be achieved, and will need to be maintained, as, indeed, has already happened with the Guidelines. Some of you will know that Rachel Squire MP has put forward a private member's bill to deliver an exception to copyright for the benefit of visually impaired people. I understand that this bill, the text of which has not yet been published, is being sponsored by the RNIB. We will be exploring in the coming months whether this is a bill that can deliver an exception to copyright in a form we can support. We are, therefore, at a point in time where we can celebrate genuinely useful progress in giving visually impaired people better access to copyright material. But there is much more work on the horizon. Some of this, if not much of this, can be achieved by building on the dialogue that has led to the Guidelines. Government will, though, play its part too, encouraging dialogue where this is useful and elaborating on underpinning legislation too. It does, however, give me great pleasure to share in the celebration of this important milestone today. |
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Other speeches by Melanie Johnson MP
(the following are available from the archive) |
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