Argentina Approves the Marrakech Treaty
On December 3, 2014 the Argentine Congress passed Law No. 27,061, which approved WIPO’s Marrakech Treaty to facilitate access to published works for the blind, visually impaired or people suffering difficulties in accessing printed text.
The Treaty of Marrakech provides exceptions and limitations to copyright, becoming the first WIPO treaty which establishes exceptions and limitations to intellectual property rights. Under its provisions the Contracting Parties must introduce limitations and exceptions to domestic copyright law to ensure reproduction, distribution, and availability of published works in accessible formats for visually impaired persons. Furthermore, the Contracting Parties should allow cross-border exchange (import and export) of these works in accessible format by organizations that provide services to blind and visually impaired people.
This treaty was signed by Argentina on May 21, 2014 and ratified on April 1, 2015.
However, the Marrakech Treaty shall enter into force three months after twenty parties have deposited their instruments of ratification, which is yet to happen as to date only eight Contracting Parties have done so.
This insight is a brief comment on legal news in Argentina; it does not purport to be an exhaustive analysis or to provide legal advice.