By Anitah Ashemereirwe,
NATIONAL
Organisations on disability rights like Uganda National Association of the Blind (UNAB) and the East Africa Centre for Disability Law and Policy have asked government to domesticate the Marrakesh Treaty.
The Marrakesh Treaty was ratified in 2018, helping to make reading materials more widely available in accessible formats to persons with visual impairments throughout the world.
UNAB chiarperson francis Kinubi says that domesticating the treaty will ease transcription of published materials into other formats readable and understandable by persons with visual impairments mostly school going children.
Kinubi was addressing the press when he explained that the current Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act No.19 of 2006 that would have made transcribing of published materials easy has some conditions such as getting consent from Authors that keep hindering them from taking on the gesture
He argued that when the Marrakesh Treaty is domesticated, the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act will also be amended
“When the treaty is domesticated, one would easily transcribe any information for the good of the visual impaired persons,” he urged
According to him, transcribing of publications will have no any side effects because it does not take away ownership of books from original authors once the Copyright law is amended . He asked authors not to worry.
Government has also been tasked to foster strategic collaborations with organizations that make published materials accessible for persons with visual disability if it’s to fight against illiteracy among them.
