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The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) aims to enable the creation and cross-border exchange of copyrighted works in formats that are accessible to individuals with disabilities. To that end, it requires Contracting Parties to introduce a set of limitations and exceptions to existing copyright rules. Following Opinion 3/15 of the Court of Justice, the Marrakesh Treaty was concluded by the European Union (EU) on behalf of its Member States. It was implemented by means of a Directive governing the substantive rights of reproduction, distribution and making available of published works in accessible formats, and a Regulation governing the cross-border exchange of accessible format works with Third Countries, both based on Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This article examines the role of the Marrakesh Directive and Regulation in enhancing access to printed material to persons with disabilities. In that connection, it discusses common trends and perceptions of such a Marrakesh framework on the basis of empirical research consisting of a set of semi-structured interviews conducted with key stakeholders across twelve Member States. It locates the Directive and Regulation within the growing body of EU legislation that aims to ensure accessibility of an array of materials, products and services for persons with disabilities, while driving forward economic integration. In doing so, it conceives of the Marrakesh Directive and Regulation as part of the broader remit of EU disability law, which is an emerging cross-cutting area of EU action. On the whole, this article argues that the Marrakesh Treaty and its implementing legislation contribute to the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities within the internal market, but form just one piece – albeit an important one – of the accessibility 'jigsaw'.
Marrakesh Treaty, Directive 2017/1564/EU (Marrakesh Directive), Disability, Copyright exceptions, Accessibility, European Accessibility Act, European Union Law, Implementation, Empirical Research

The End-users' perspective is often a neglected aspect of the European Union (EU) copyright regulatory framework and within copyright scholarship. In light of the objectives pursued by reCreating Europe, and its overarching aim to promote a modern, creative, culturally diverse, accessible Europe, Work Package (WP) 2 aims to discuss the role of End-users' rights, interests, expectations, and behaviors vis-à-vis copyright rules. Within WP2, the aim of Task 2.2 is to assess the extent to which vulnerable groups experience barriers in accessing digital cultural content. It also aims to investigate whether, and to what extent, the EU regulatory framework might exacerbate or counteract those barriers. In that regard, we linked ex ante the idea of vulnerability to structural inequalities by identifying specific groups of End-users. However, our analysis aims to further unveil the role of those inequalities and of specific barriers linked to them in accessing digital culture. This interim report provides a detailed overview of the objectives of Task 2.2, of specific research questions posed as part of this Task, as well as a comprehensive discussion of the methodology used for this research. In this regard, the report also discusses in detail the process of data collection and lays out some 'incidental' findings emerging from that process. In addition, it discusses some general preliminary findings of the research conducted to date. In particular, it highlights three main issues, which will be further analyzed in the final report. First, the degree of knowledge of copyright law and the understanding of its relevance in relation to the consumption of digital cultural content seems limited amongst vulnerable groups. Second, in all countries considered, underlying barriers, such as the 'digital divide' and structural inequalities faced by vulnerable groups, represent a substantial challenge and prevent the consumption of digital content. In this respect, this interim report confirms the results of other past and ...

This webinar took place (online) on the 10th of December 2021. The event aimed to present the research conducted within the ReCreating Europe project by the Maynooth University unit. After a general introduction on the project - in particular the work of WP2 on End Users - the speakers discussed the preliminary findings and interim results of a set of semi-structured interviews undertaken by project members from Maynooth University. These interviews were conducted across 12 European countries with key stakeholders and representatives of organisations representing both Minority Groups and Persons with Disabilities about the barriers they encounter in accessing digital culture. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 870626.