Copyright and Visual Impairment

Joint Industry Guidelines issued by the Publishers' Association

1. Visually impaired people who have lawfully obtained a copy of a published work, whether bought or borrowed, may make whatever transcription, copy or format changes they require to enable personal access to the work, including speech synthesis, Braille, Moon, large print, single voice recording (speech), electronic file, provided the work is not readily commercially available in a suitable format.

2. Visually impaired people may ask another person or organisation, including schools, libraries and charities, to create an accessible copy on their behalf, provided that any such copy is made for the personal use of the visually impaired person concerned only. This includes use for the purpose of work or study.

3. A non-electronic copy e.g. single voice recording (speech) or a Braille copy may be borrowed or exchanged among visually impaired people as if it were the print original itself.

4. Electronic copies may be created and stored on a computer system for as long as required to enable personal use of the work while the original is retained. They may not be made accessible or passed on to a third party or posted on an Intranet, in newsgroups or on the World Wide Web. If the original is lent, sold or given away, then any accessible copies and associated electronic files must be deleted or transferred with the original.

5. Visually impaired people must respect the literary and artistic integrity of the work including any copyright notices and any moral rights the author may have in the work. They must not in any way adapt, edit, alter, amend or distort the work, other than as required to enable full access, without the prior permission of the author or his or her designated representative.

6. The copyright remains with the copyright owner. Rightsholders retain the right to exclude the use of certain formats in special circumstances and permission must be sought for such use from the relevant rightsholders.

Copyright © 2002 The Publishers Association.