Marrakesh VIP Treaty

The Marrakesh VIP Treaty (formally the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities, colloquially MVT) is a treaty on copyright adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 28 June 2013. The treaty allows for copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired persons. The treaty sets a norm for countries ratifying the treaty to have a domestic copyright exception covering these activities, and allowing for the import and export of such materials.

Fifty-one countries signed the treaty as of the close of the diplomatic conference in Marrakesh. The ratification of 20 states was required for the treaty to enter into effect; the 20th ratification was received on 30 June 2016, and the treaty entered into force on 30 September 2016.

India ratified the treaty on 24 July 2014 and was the first country to do so. As of 7 July 2014, 79 countries have signed the Treaty and 20 states have ratified it.

In March 2015, an unusually harsh statement by the Council of the European Union accused the European Commission of delaying the adoption of the treaty by EU and called upon the Commission "to submit without delay the necessary legislative proposal".

The treaty entered into force on September 30, 2016, but not USA nor EU due to continued opposition by certain EU member states.

The treaty is the second international trade treaty associated with tl, the other being the Marrakesh Agreement which established the World Trade Organization in 1994.