Holy See: Copyright Issue has a Human Rights Dimension

October 02, 2012: While recognizing the importance of the protection intellectual property rights, the Delegation of the Holy See looks forward to reaching an agreement on an international legally binding instrument on limitations and exceptions for visually impaired persons with print disabilities.

In his Statement Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva 50^th Series of Meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Assemblies on Monday said “Visually impaired individuals have access to only five percent of published books in developed countries. In poorer countries the percentage is closer to one. At a time when technology brings massive amounts of information to households and businesses, it is a shocking fact that even in the most developed countries in the world, less than five percent of information is available in useable formats such as audio, large print and Braille”

Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes to all individuals the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community and to enjoy the arts. This is a copyright issue that has a clear human rights dimension: the need to ensure that copyright is not a barrier to equal access to information, culture and education for people with print disabilities and other reading disabilities.