17 May 2015

Law changes needed to allow access for blind and visually impaired persons

Better laws are needed to ensure the world’s blind and visually impaired people get access to copyright-protected books and digital information, according to PhD research done at Victoria University of Wellington.

28165_CBM7723The World Blind Union estimates that every year, less than five percent of all published material becomes available to the 285 million blind and visually impaired persons worldwide.

Doctoral research undertaken by a Victoria University of Wellington graduand reveals intellectual property law needs to change in order to improve accessibility to digital and printed material for the blind or visually impaired.

Lida Ayoubi, who graduates with a PhD from Victoria’s Faculty of Law, says that changing the law will help increase the availability of these materials.

“Insufficient access to copyright-protected material is discriminatory and negatively affects the human rights of the visually impaired, including the right to education, culture and science.”

Although the degree of availability is much higher in New Zealand, Australia and Europe, the global statistics are disappointing, and it’s a matter of the law keeping up with technology.

“The state of technology is much better than the state of law.”

One aspect of Lida’s research looked at improving access for the visually impaired at a policy level. “How can we design laws that would make access easier for blind or visually impaired, not just in New Zealand but across the world?

“I explored how different countries are addressing the needs of the visually impaired and what more can be done locally and internationally.

“Access to copyright materials and the state of the law in New Zealand is pretty good and a lot can be learnt from the New Zealand experience.”

Lida’s research also explores why the gap in accessibility exists. “Lack of satisfactory access for the visually impaired is a prime example of the interface or clash between intellectual property rights and human rights—it goes beyond copyright.”

Lida initially became interested in her research area when she came across negotiations being undertaken at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) while completing her Master’s degree. WIPO was exploring a potential instrument to improve access to copyright material for blind or visually impaired persons.

When Lida began her PhD five years ago there was little research being undertaken in this area. “I couldn’t believe that such a huge issue had not been addressed before.”

She chose Victoria’s Law school to benefit from the supervision of leading intellectual property scholars, Professors Graeme Austin and Susy Frankel.

Lida is now teaching intellectual property law at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), where she is continuing her research in this area.

Lida Ayoubi will graduate with a PhD in Law on Wednesday 18 May.

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