On January 23, 2020, OSERS released a memorandum to State Directors of Special Education notifying them of the changes to copyright that became effective through the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act.
Specifically, the copyright law has been changed to provide new definitions for “eligible person” and “accessible format.”
Although the IDEA statute and regulations have not yet been revised to reflect these changes to copyright, states were advised to “rely on, and utilize, the terms and definitions as updated and implemented by the Marrakesh Treaty and found in the Copyright Act at 17 U.S.C.ยง 121.”
The eligibility criteria provided for NIMAS previously has pointed to the NLS guidelines, and these have not yet been updated. The NIMAC will not be requiring that State Coordinators, Authorized Users, or Accessible Media Producers sign revised agreements until new NLS guidelines are in place and we can incorporate them into revised agreements. However, we encourage states to adopt the new definitions in their policies and processes, per the guidance from OSERS.
Additional information, and a link to to the OSERS memorandum, can be found at the National AEM Center website: NIMAS Terms Clarified Post Marrakesh.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.