Literary and scientific works in special systems for blind people: release from payment of IP rights

On September 13, 2007, Law No 26,285 was passed amending section 36 of the Intellectual Property Law (Law No 11,723). The new law releases payment of intellectual property rights from the reproduction and distribution of scientific and literary works in special systems for blind people and other individuals with visual disabilities.

This law provides that the "visual disabilities" included in the law are the following: severe visual disabilities, amblyopia, dyslexia, and "any other physical or neurological disability which affects the vision, the handling or the understanding of texts in a conventional form".

The benefit applies to "scientific and literary works", which the law defines as follows:

    i. "Scientific work": treaties, text books, disclosure books, magazine articles, and any other material related to the sciences and the technology.

   ii. "Literary work": poetry, story, novel, philosophy, history, essays, encyclopedia, dictionaries, and every written document in which "the form and the subject matters are combined to express knowledge and ideas of universal or national interest".

Although the law clarifies that the benefit only applies to the reproduction and distribution carried out by "authorized entities", the provision does not specify how and who grants said authorization.

The works which are reproduced and distributed under this regime shall be protected with passwords to prevent any unauthorized distribution and damage to the rightful owner of the work.