The Right To Reading Accessibility

The right to reading accessibility refers to the right of persons with a print disability to equally and freely participate in reading activities.Persons with a 'print disability' refers to persons who are blind or have a visual impairment or a perceptual or reading disability,and are therefore unable to read printed works to substantially the same degree as persons without impairment or disability.Most literary,dramatic,artistic,scientific and other kinds of works are published and disseminated in visual formats,such as print books,print magazines or newspapers,or readable digital texts,pictures or films displayed on computer or television screens.Persons with a print disability are disadvantaged intellectually as they have limited access to information and knowledge conveyed by works published in print versions.Such a disadvantage further obstacles persons with a print disability to fully enjoy their cultural rights,economic rights,political rights,and other basic rights.It is thus of vital importance to facilitate access to reading materials for persons with a print disability.The subject matter of this research is the right to reading accessibility.In light of the conflicts between copyright and right to accessibility,the research proposed a theoretical framework being "balanced and prioritized protection" to resolve the conflicts between these two rights so to facilitate the realization of the right to education,right to participated cultural life and other human rights for persons with a print disability.This research analyzes the newly adopted Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind,Visually Impaired,or Otherwise Print Disabled("Marrakesh Treaty")as well as the international treaties and national laws so to value the effectiveness of the current copyright exceptions and limitations in facilitating the right of reading accessibility.This research also examines Chinese copyright law and other relevant laws and regulations and proposes suggestions for law reform in China to ensure access to reading materials for persons with a print disability in China.This thesis is composed of an Introduction,five chapters and a conclusion.The Introduction provides an overview of the research background,literature review and the theoretical framework.The main research question is how to facilitate the right of reading accessibility.This thesis is novel in that it proposed the "balanced and prioritized protection"as the theoretical framework to balance the protection on copyright and the print disabled's access to copyright works.Chapter One argues that the right of reading accessibility is essential for the print disabled to realize their fundamental human rights,and that the Marrakesh Treaty is to facilitate the right of reading accessibility.Underpinning this argument is that the right of accessibility is a widely acknowledged a fundamental human right for disabled persons to realize their political,cultural and economic rights,of which the right of reading accessibility is an essential part.This chapter further explains the important role reading is playing to realize the fundamental human rights including the right to education and the right to participate in cultural life.The Marrakesh Treaty is therefore introduced and accepted by members of the World Intellectual Property Organization to facilitate access to copyright works for persons with a print disability.Chapter Two discusses the conflicts and balance of the right of reading accessibility and copyright.From a theoretical perspective,it is controversial as to how to resolve the conflict between copyright protection and the reading accessibility,especially in the context that copyright,and intellectual property rights,has been arguably treated as the fundamental human right.This chapter refutes the proposition that copyright is a kind of fundamental human rights.The theoretical framework is further refined by integrating the discussion on the theories to resolve the conflict of rights,and it is summarized as the "balanced and prioritized protection".The thesis argues that the "balanced and prioritized protection" could be adopted to balance conflicting rights.It serves as the foundation of this thesis to propose to prioritize the right to reading accessibility and balance its conflicts with the protection of copyright.Chapter Three introduces the background,negotiation process and contents of the Marrakesh Treaty.The Treaty provides copyright exceptions and limitations for the print disabled to have access to published works.The large variety of national laws in copyright exceptions and limitations to facilitate reading accessibility for persons with a print disability,along with the prolonged and intensive negotiation of the Marrakesh Treaty,reflects the hardship to ensure the right to reading accessibility.This chapter examines that after joining the treaty,to what extent the contracting parties of the Marrakesh Treaty are willing to reform their domestic law to comply with the obligations imposed by the treaty and to ratify the treaty.Chapter Four argues that the Marrakesh Treaty embodied the theoretical framework of"balanced and prioritized protection".The treaty prioritized the protection of reading accessibility,and it effectively resolved the conflict between copyright protection and the right to reading accessibility through its mechanism,especially the "three-step test".It argues that the Marrakesh Treaty provides a symbolic mechanism to solve the conflicts between intellectual property rights and human rights.The research also proposes several suggestions for further improvement of the Marrakesh Treaty.Chapter Five discusses how to ensure the right to reading accessibility in China.This chapter firstly provides an overview of Chinese laws facilitating the right to reading accessibility.It then discusses Chines copyright laws in detail and compares Chinese copyright laws with that of the Marrakesh Treaty.It reveals several issues that need to be addressed and improved in China.The research proposes a fundamental reform of Chinese copyright law to facilitate the right to reading accessibility.