At their best, IP laws encourage technological advances, reward creativity, and benefit society. Practical and creative innovators need space to operate and ensure those benefits reach the people who desperately need new solutions but are often least able to afford them. To make this possible, we must ensure balance in copyright laws and defend fair use as a laboratory for creativity. With the leverage of technology and the foundation provided by well thought out IP laws, we can inspire both economic growth and social good.
Social Enterprise Buzz, a media company dedicated to covering social enterprise news from around the world, featured our CEO, Jim Fruchterman, and his journey navigating legal issues and creating social good throughout Benetech’s history.
This piece originally appeared as a guest post on Jim Fruchterman’s Blog. I recently had the honor to speak at the first-ever Braille Summit, hosted on June 19-21, 2013 by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and Perkins School for the Blind. With the goal of promoting braille literacy, this […]
Press Release: What has been commonly referred to as the “Treaty for the Blind” was formally adopted yesterday, and signed by 51 countries today, in a Diplomatic Conference convened by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This historic treaty paves the way to expanding the access to books for people who are blind or otherwise print disabled and provides the necessary legal framework for organizations, like Benetech and its Bookshare initiative, to deliver those books to people across international borders.
Wired Magazine has quoted our CEO, Jim Fruchterman, in an about the negotiations for an international treaty to make books more accessible to people who are blind or have other print disabilities. Entitled “Obama Stops Championing Treaty That Gives the Blind Better Access to E-Books,” the article, written by David Kravets, outlines how lobbying by Hollywood and dozens of the world’s largest corporations may subvert the treaty, which has been years in the making.
