times of india
CHENNAI: When G Udayaraj, a final year student, wants to read a book, he goes
to the computer lab, dons a headset and listens to one of the 30,000 books that
Presidency College's English department has converted into digital format.
Udayaraj has very low vision, which means everything from class notes to novels
are easier to 'read' on the computer.
But a proposed amendment to copyright act might just change the way print-
disabled people like Udayaraj 'read'. The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2010,
introduced in RS on Monday, says there will be copyright exemption only for
converting books into special formats such as Braille and sign language
[Section 52 (1) (zb)
"A number of print disabled people don't use Braille," says Rahul Cherian, a
copyright lawyer with Inclusive Planet, an organisation working with the
disabled. "They scan and convert printed material into electronic formats and
use screen reading software like NVDA or JAWS to listen to it," he says.
"This amendment will mean they can no longer convert books into accessible
formats on their own." The term print-disabled covers the blind, people with
low vision, autism, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities, who cannot read
with ease. Currently, the copyright act does not have explicit provisions about
converting material into acessible formats.
This February, HRD ministry put out a list of proposed amendments, including
the ones that have sent the print-disabled into a tizzy. The amendments say
only organisations registered under the I-T act and working for the disabled
can apply to Copyright Board for licenses to convert material into digital
formats [Section 31B (1). "Most converting is done by parents of disabled
children, students and volunteers, not by organisations," says V Sivaraman,
assistant professor, English department, Presidency College, Chennai.
Regards
"Perhaps our role on this planet is not to worship God-- but to create Him."
--Arthur C. Clarke
(Rajesh Asudani)
Assistant General Manager,
Reserve Bank of India
Nagpur
09420397185
O: 0712 2806676
Res: 0712 2591349
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