Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| CALL FOR EVIDENCE  FOR AN EVALUATION / FITNESS CHECK | |
| Title of the evaluation | EU copyright law for blind and visually impaired people – evaluation of the Marrakesh Directive and Regulation |
| Lead DG – responsible unit | DG CNECT, I.2 Copyright |
| Indicative timetable  (planned start date and completion date) | Q1 2023 – Q4 2023 |
| Additional information | - |
| This document is for information purposes only. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the document, including its timing, are subject to change. | |
| A. Political context, purpose and scope of the evaluation | |
| Political context | |
| Directive (EU) 2017/1564 (‘the Marrakesh Directive’) and the accompanying Regulation (EU) 2017/1563 (‘the Marrakesh Regulation’) introduced necessary changes to European Union (EU) copyright law. These changes are the result of the EU’s conclusion of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in 2013. [1](#footnote3)    The Marrakesh Directive provides for a mandatory exception to copyright legislation for the benefit of people who are blind or who have a vision impairment or print disability. The Marrakesh Regulation facilitates the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies between EU Member States and any third-country parties to the Marrakesh Treaty.     Under Article 10(1) of the Marrakesh Directive and Article 7 of the Marrakesh Regulation, the Commission must evaluate the Directive and the Regulation and report on its main findings by 11 October 2023.    The Marrakesh Directive and Regulation are also of relevance to the EU’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Consequently, the EU’s Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 [2](#footnote4) states that the Commission will assess the availability of printed works for people with disabilities, taking account of the Marrakesh Directive. | |
| Purpose and scope | |
| The aim of this evaluation is to assess the extent to which the Marrakesh Directive and Regulation have been effective in meeting their objectives and are efficient, cost-effective, relevant to current and emerging needs, consistent with EU policy and international commitments and demonstrate EU added-value.  In particular, this evaluation will assess how these two legal instruments have impacted the availability of accessible versions of existing non-accessible works and of new published works and have helped to facilitate the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies. It will specifically include an assessment of the impact of the compensation schemes that exist in certain Member States on such availability and exchanges. The evaluation will also consider the possible impact on the commercial availability of certain works or other subject matter in accessible formats for beneficiary persons.  In addition, the evaluation will also take into account other policy areas related to the accessibility of published works, in particular the European Accessibility Act [3](#footnote5) . The Act requires that all e-books placed on the EU market after 28 June 2025 are accessible.  The evaluation will cover the period running from the respective transposition dates in the Directive and the date of application of the Regulation onwards [4](#footnote6) , subject to the availability of data. It will be limited to the Member States of the EU and their exchanges with third countries that are signatories to the Marrakesh Treaty. | |
| B. Better regulation | |
| Consultation strategy | |
| The evaluation, supported by an external study, will include the following consultation activities:  ·a targeted stakeholder consultation, to be launched in the first half of 2023 and to run for a period of at least four weeks;   ·gathering information from Member States, in accordance with Article 10(2) of the Marrakesh Directive and Article 7 of the Marrakesh Regulation; and  ·in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, in particular to verify the initial findings.    The consultation activities are intended to provide qualitative and, where possible, quantitative data. They will cover the following stakeholders: the competent authorities in the Member States; relevant civil society organisations, in particular those representing people with disabilities and older people; authorised entities [5](#footnote7) , organisations in the field of cultural heritage, educational institutions; rightholders and relevant commercial entities. | |
| Data collection and methodology | |
| The methodology for the evaluation activities will combine desk research (based on existing information sources) with consultation activities involving relevant stakeholders (targeted consultation and in-depth interviews) and Member States (questionnaire-based), as indicated above, in order to collect, analyse, interpret and triangulate the quantitative and qualitative data. The existing information sources include reports produced within the wider framework of EU disability policy, including the Marrakesh Directive. The evaluation activities will also take into account official legal and policy documents, such as EU legislation in the field of disability and accessibility (e.g. the European Accessibility Act and the ‘Web Accessibility Directive’ [6](#footnote8) ).   As mentioned above, the evaluation will draw on a supporting external study, to be launched in the first quarter of 2023. | |

:   [(1)](#footnoteref3)
     https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/marrakesh/
:   [(2)](#footnoteref4)
     https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52021DC0101
:   [(3)](#footnoteref5)
     Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L0882
:   [(4)](#footnoteref6)
     Marrakesh Directive: Transposition deadline 11 October 2018. Marrakesh Regulation: Applicable from 12 October 2018
:   [(5)](#footnoteref7)
    According to Article 1(4) of the “Marrakesh” Directive, this is an entity that is authorised or recognised by a Member State to provide education, instructional training, adaptive reading or information access to beneficiary persons on a non-profit basis. It also includes a public institution or non-profit organisation that provides the same services to beneficiary persons as one of its primary activities, institutional obligations or as part of its public-interest missions. A list of notified authorised entities available at https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc\_id=86412
:   [(6)](#footnoteref8)
     Directive (EU) 2016/2102 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/2102/oj

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