Last chance: Canada should sign Visually Impaired Treaty

The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, which would make accessible-format copyright works more available, was finalized almost a year ago on June 27 2013.

Whereas 66 countries, including the EU, France, the UK, and the United States, have all signed the treaty, Canada as yet has not.

The treaty is open for signature for up to one year; that deadline is coming up soon in June.  Canada should sign the treaty to indicate its support for ending the book famine affecting accessible-format works.  Canada's signature belongs on the treaty, given the role that Canada reportedly played during the treaty's negotiation.

Gurry appointed for second term at WIPO

Francis Gurry has been appointed by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for a second term as Director General. Read my full post on WIPOMonitor.org here.

Struggle for Canadian Copyright: the podcast

I was recently interviewed for a podcast about my book The Struggle for Canadian Copyright: Imperialism to Internationalism, 1842-1971.  The podcast, available here, is part of the New Books in Communications series interviewing authors about their work.  Other podcasts include Robert Darnton speaking on the Future of Libraries, Melissa Aronczyk on Branding the Nation, and Jonathan Sterne on MP3: The Meaning of a Format, among others.