Access to books: human rights, copyright and accessibility

This paper will explore the tension between the right to read (ensuring intellectual property does not create an unreasonable barrier to access) and the protection afforded to literary works by copyright, particularly how copyright policy can limit access to content. Using statutory analysis of international copyright law and human rights law, it will look at the way Human Rights treaties have addressed intellectual property in the past, and will compare them to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This will be followed by a discussion the proposed World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty on Limitations and Exceptions for Visually Impaired Persons/Persons with Print Disabilities and how this proposed treaty will increase access to content for persons with disabilities. The conclusion of this analysis is that copyright policy must evolve in order to keep up with technology to enable equal access to content for persons with disabilities.