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Journalism of Courage
Sometimes better is just not good enough,and it is welcome news that the government is reconsidering some of the provisions of the Copyright Amendment Bill 2010. At present,the bill acknowledges the need to provide cover to the disabled from copyright provisions,by allowing the automatic conversion of reading material into specially designed formats,essentially Braille. Under the 1957 law,as it currently stands,permission has to be taken from copyright holders each time a text is desired to be made available to the visually challenged,or persons with print-disabilities. However,as activists have pointed out,the amendment bill does not acknowledge the revolution in reading technology thats taken place since 1957.
So its no small victory that the human resource development ministry is now expected to incorporate changes in the legislation to allow conversion to any format,and not necessarily just Braille. These include audio,formats with large text,as well as e-texts that give the reader the option of screen-reading software. The changes will,hopefully,do away with the earlier proposed licensing system for conversion to a multiplicity of formats,and make it easier,not just for an organisation but also for a print-disabled person,to access reading matter.
That last intervention is necessary because improvements in
e-texts have made it easy for an individual to access matter in ways suited to her situation; the law must be nimble enough to allow her that feeling of agency,and therefore liberation. The legislation must also be forward-looking in accommodating easier conversion of reading material that may come with technological improvements in the future.
