[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 46 (Thursday, March 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Corker, Mr. 
        Menendez, Mr. Hatch, Ms. Harris, and Mr. Leahy):
  S. 2559. A bill to amend title 17, United States Code, to implement 
the Marrakesh Treaty, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that would implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to 
Published Works for Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or 
Otherwise Print Disabled (``Marrakesh Treaty''). I'm pleased that 
Senators Feinstein, Corker, Menendez, Hatch, Harris and Leahy are 
joining me as original cosponsors.
  The Marrakesh Treaty was signed by the United States in October 2013. 
It seeks to help address the global ``book famine'' and facilitate 
access to printed works for visually impaired individuals by providing, 
with appropriate safeguards, that copyright protection should not 
impede the creation and distribution of accessible format copies, 
including the exchange of such copies internationally.
  The Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act represents a consensus 
approach developed by the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations 
Committees with stakeholders within the publishers, libraries and print 
disabilities communities, in consultation with the U.S. Patent and 
Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office as well as other 
interested industry and public interest stakeholders. I particularly 
want to commend the National Federation of the Blind, the Association 
of American Publishers and the Library Copyright Alliance for working 
with us in reaching an agreement on legislative text and proposed 
legislative history. We would not be here today without their efforts.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Foreign Relations 
Committee, Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Menendez, on ratification 
of the Marrakesh Treaty in the Senate, and with Judiciary Committee 
Ranking Member Feinstein on passing the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation 
Act.
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