The web's widespread use in the modern world has made it simple to share information. An inconsequential result of this is a change in reading patterns across the world. On one hand, any specific media can always be distributed and released publicly with barely any technical barriers and on the other, a visually impaired person is finding it more difficult to adapt to this change....
The web's widespread use in the modern world has made it simple to share information. An inconsequential result of this is a change in reading patterns across the world. On one hand, any specific media can always be distributed and released publicly with barely any technical barriers and on the other, a visually impaired person is finding it more difficult to adapt to this change. At least 180 million people are estimated to be suffering from some sort of visual impairment, with more than 18 million people in India. This article explores a disabled person's right to read by examining the existing copyright and disability laws in the USA, EU, and India.
Publisher And Text To Speech Conversion Dilemma
To solve issues such as hacking, unlawful reproduction, and distribution, unlicensed use of media, etc., Publishers implement Digital Rights Management (hereinafter DRM) methods. It is a method of protecting digital media copyrights. This strategy entails the deployment of technologies that restrict the reproduction and use of copyrighted content as well as proprietary software—for instance, disabling the copy function from their website, disallowing Screenshotting a website, or encrypting the content on the web.
Although DRM technology empowers publishers to exercise control over their content, it can also be used to undermine public rights, which are otherwise legal under the "fair use" doctrine, as most DRM solutions are not designed to provide for exceptions for fair usage. This props a dilemma. On one hand, there is a perpetual fight between an author's private rights, and on the other, the right to read for the public.
It can be contended that legally, a publisher is within its right to copyright the content and avail the fruits of an author's labour. However, employing DRMs upon already copyrighted content violates the fair use doctrine and restricts a visually impaired person's ability to access quality content. For instance, most visually impaired individuals use JAWS, which is a Microsoft Windows screen reader which makes it easier for people who have limited vision to utilise a Windows PC. JAWS has several capabilities, including Braille support, multi-lingual voice synthesizing, and multi-screen support. However, employment DRMs limit the ability of people to utilize the content.
Should The Publisher Be Made Liable For Better Access Control Methods For Specific Use Cases?
In the US, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) along with several other disability rights activists have raised voices against the existing Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to adapt to their needs against corporate interests. For the last year, they've gone through a complex petitioning process to get a vital exception to the DMCA, which gives people legal protection to develop accessible versions of eBooks.
The DMCA has had a considerable number of unforeseen consequences leading to the stifling of a wide range of legitimate activities rather than combating piracy. In the instant case, activists contend that the law lacks provisions for publishers to be obligated to incorporate features such as Text-To-Speech (TTS) or Speech-To-Text in the electronic editions of their books. On the contrary, both TTS and STT functions affect a publisher gravely. For instance, In 2007, Amazon attempted to enable a text-to-speech mechanism in all of its Kindle devices, which was met with resistance from traditional publishers across the US, which led Amazon to eventually withdraw.
Under Section 121 of the US Copyright Act, non-profit organizations and government entities that offer services to individuals with visual impairments may create and distribute accessible copies of copyrighted works solely for their use. This has come due to US's obligation under the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty).
Thus, in October last year, the US Copyright Office proposed changes to § 1201 of the DMCA in its Eighth Triennial Proceeding to Determine Exemptions to the Prohibition on Circumvention with regards to eBook and recommended the adoption of exemptions to allow circumventions to include both "literary works" and "musical compositions set in the format of writing or notation" for the blind, which has been adopted.
Challenges To Right To Read Under Indian Copyright Law:
In India, literary work is protected under Section14 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (the Act). under Section 3 of the Act, publishing is defined as making work available to the general public by the distribution of copies or communication public. So, publishing a literary work entails making it accessible to the general public through the distribution of copies or communication. Section51 of the Act provides when copyright can be infringed by a person without a license and in the use of the work.
DRMs were introduced via the Copyright Amendment Act 2012 to limit the sharing, printing, or copying of content. Section 65A states that anybody who circumvents any effective technical measure used to protect the rights provided by the Act with the intent of infringing on such requests is subject to imprisonment for up to two years as well as a fine. Section 65B renders it an offence to delete or change digital rights information without authorization, as well as to distribute any copyright-protected work in which the digital rights data has been removed.
The Indian Copyright Act is more advanced than US's Copyright Act concerning its fair use provisions for the visually impaired. For instance, After the 2012 Amendment, Sections 31B and Section 52(1)(zb) were included to do away with the need to obtain permission from publishers before translating their works into accessible versions for the benefit of people with disabilities on a non-profit model. This rule is very broad and inclusive in its reach, and it includes certain safeguards against improper use among non-beneficiaries of the exemption.
However, the Act is still riddled with many issues, when it comes to the protection of rights of the visually impaired.
- 1.It contains no provisions for adapting any print or audio to an accessible manner for the visually impaired;
- 2.Print is inaccessible to the blind: In theory, eBooks may be accessed via screen readers. However, many publishers do not provide access rights to the visually impaired, protecting their content with DRMs;
- 3.Just like in the US, there is no obligation for the publishers to convert the content into TTS format;
- 4.Commercial Braille and big print books are uncommon in India, and
- 5.There are very few Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) formatted books and CDs in India.
Furthermore, despite the addition of Section 52(1)(n) that authorizes "non-commercial public libraries" to keep an electronic copy of a book if they already have a physical copy, public libraries languish due to unsupportive publishers catering to the market dynamics. Inadequate infrastructure, human resources, and budgetary constraints prevent the provision of mobility aids in academic libraries, resulting in unproductive sessions in libraries.
Section 27(f) of the Persons with Disability Act, 1995 obliges state governments to provide reading material for the upliftment of the disabled, however, there is no mention of enabling access rights to already published works in digital format across the Act.
The Way Ahead
Copyright aims to advance beneficial arts and sciences by safeguarding an exclusive right of writers or creators to profit from their work.DRM causes an imbalance between public rights and the publisher's interest by definition and function. With the employment of DRM to content, there is an increase in the exclusive rights of the copyright owner.
In 2019, the EU passed the Accessibility Act which brings eBooks under the purview of a single accessibility law. It makes it compulsory to consider accessibility in their sites, digital services, and mobile apps. This is limited not just to the EU's public sector but will be made applicable to private entities. All persons regardless of disability or use must be able to access such services similarly.
India too should consider legislation that enables the disabled an equal opportunity to individually access and control literary works such as eBooks. Internet Service Providers as well as the State must consider the diverse requirements of people with vision impairment. Issues should be identified and addressed at the outset instead of being incorporated later as retrofitting. Barriers might almost disappear if programs, projects, and initiatives are developed with the visually impaired community in mind.
Views are personal.