Disability Models, Substantive Rights, and Legal Obligations – Modelling Copyright Law on Disability Rights Principles

Turning from copyright protection to disability law, this chapter delves first into the various models that have been used as lenses through which to perceive and understand disability. The problematic nature of viewing access to the written word through the lenses of individual models of disability is highlighted, with emphasis on the importance of empowering persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print-disabled as rights-holders through the human rights model. It is argued that the global book famine is to be understood as a socially created breach of fundamental human rights and its resolution is, therefore, a social responsibility, as per the social model. The chapter then moves to exploring the cross-cutting principles, substantive rights, and legal obligations which underpin the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), with a special focus on the rights to cultural life and education. These principles inform the Marrakesh Treaty’s text and should similarly shape copyright law and policy. Finally, the three conceptual approaches to defining the relationship between copyright and disability rights are explored, noting how the Marrakesh Treaty pioneers an integrationist approach. Overall, this chapter provides a fundamental understanding of the disability rights side of the Marrakesh Treaty coin.