HL Deb 28 July 1999 vol 604 cc194-5WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will amend copyright legislation so as to enable the transfer of printed material into Braille for the blind without infringing copyright. [HL3946]

Lord Simon of Highbury

The Government are willing in principle to make an amendment of this kind to UK copyright law, but we shall need to be clearer as to our EC obligations in this area before we can proceed further. The draft directive on copyright and related rights in the information society, which seeks generally to harmonise the exceptions to rights which member states may provide in their national laws, does include provision for exceptions for the benefit of visually-impaired people. We fully support this, as do other member states, but clearly since the directive is still under negotiation we cannot at present be certain of its final form and therefore of precisely what it will permit us to do. We will also need to consider the views of all interested parties, including those of right owners, before reaching conclusions as to what action should eventually be taken in the UK.