Call to protect disabled in Union copyright proposals

Date: 22/10/1998

By Peter Chapman

DISABLED EU citizens could be robbed of their right to copy music, books and newspaper articles unless MEPs and member states make changes to draft Union copyright rules, a coalition of Brussels lobby groups is warning.

The European Fair Practices in Copyright Campaign (EFPICC), whose members include the EU consumer association BEUC, the European Blind Association and the European Disability Forum, says the latest drafts could in theory stop these groups making vital copies of works or rerecording them in an easier-to-use format.

The European Commission's proposals are designed to protect rights holders from the threat of piracy in the digital world, where users can potentially make perfect clones of music, video and other content.

EFPIC spokeswoman Paula Duarte said the Commission had recognised that there were some instances in which individuals should be given a 'fair use' exemption from rules outlawing unauthorised copying of material.

A list of possible exemptions drawn up by the Commission includes permission for the blind and visually impaired to convert material they have purchased legitimately into Braille.

But it would be up to individual EU governments to decide which exceptions to approve.

This, said Duarte, could leave vulnerable groups in a situation whereby copying was legal in one member state but outlawed in another. "If you put that against the backdrop of some of the demands to ban private copying, then you see there is a real threat," she added, pointing to the increasingly militant opposition in some member states such as France to private copying in general.

At the same time, warned Duarte, the Commission left out some groups altogether from its list of possible fair uses. "People with visual and hearing disabilities are the only ones mentioned," she said, adding that those with learning difficulties were not referred to at all.

The mentally handicapped were a "forgotten example", she warned. This could rob them of the chance to learn by copying and reprocessing material which they were unable to deal with in its original form.

Duarte said the Commission's proposals currently being debated by committees of MEPs could even lead to legal headaches for groups which were granted an exemption.

This is because the rules would make it illegal for users to get around the anti-copying technology which rights holders, such as record companies, are now using to thwart pirates. "This article in the draft proposals has to be made clearer. It has to say that if you are circumventing the devices because you are exercising one of the exemptions, this is legal," she insisted.

The European Parliament is expected to vote on the draft directive in December.