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December 8th, 2002
Version 3.0

Agenda: Project Background; Interviewed; Current State; Issues and Challenges; Vision; Implementation Plan; Next Steps

The Task Force recommended that the Government of Canada establish and fund a clearinghouse for e-text to which Canadian publishers must make their works available

The project objective was to:

Develop a Vision and Implementation plan for a National Clearinghouse for Print-Disabled Canadians that:
- Develops the framework for the overall strategy, identifies key issues and opportunities, and assesses overall readiness
- Will act as the foundation for the pilot project for the clearinghouse for e-text to which Canadian publishers make their works available to alternate format producers

There are a number of different organizations producing alternate format material for the Anglophone and Francophone print disabled community
All groups involved are moving to a digital text and book model
- Still in its early stages of development
All groups show an interest in participating in a National Clearinghouse program that:
- Represents the interests of the print disabled community;
- Protects the rights of the copyright holders; and
- Streamlines the process for Alternate Format Producers to access digital files

Copyright Act in a state of change
No national format for E-text
Publisher's e-files are in many different formats
There are 2 streams of books to be transformed
- Straight text
- Complex instructional material made up of text and graphics
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is still in development
There is no standardized process for accessing material from publishers
- Publisher dependent
- Alternate format producer relationships
There is no standardized process for access to alternative formats for the print disabled community

Build a Publisher to Alternate Format Producer Clearinghouse
Focus on building a Clearinghouse model that
- Establishes a clear relationship for exchange of E-text between publishers and alternate format producers across Canada
- Protects the licensing rights of publishers and authors
- Deals with the Digital Rights Management of the E-text
- Defines a standard format for E-text masters
- Builds repositories for the E-text masters and the alternative formats
Takes advantage of the early stages of E-text development
Build a Partnership that is made up of a consortium of players
- National Library - Partner in charge
- AccessCopyright - Access provider
- Alternative Format Producers as the storage and transformation agents
Provides consistent access between the publishers and alternate format producers through AccessCopyright
- Puts an agreement in place that ensures access to the alternative format producers via AccessCopyright
- Develops the licensing and rights management necessary
- Ensures that all publishers are represented
Build digital repositories
- Work closely with the Alternate Format Producers to build multiple repositories that that will act as the transforming and storage repositories
Develops a National Format
- Work with the standards community on the development of a national standard format (e.g. DAISY NISO)
Builds the capability, in a later phase, for Print Disabled Canadians to access and pay for the digital books and E-text

Benefits

The Vision provides the following benefits:
- Includes all parties currently involved in the production of alternate formats and distributes responsibilities based on their mandate
- Leverages work currently going on in the development and management of E-books/E-text
- The National Clearinghouse can be built in phases
- Costs can be minimized as the vision leverages the work planned or underway by the participants

Implement over a two-year period
Work with the current milestones of all of the participants and standards groups to establish
- Copyright Act requirements
- Digital Rights Management standardization
- E-text format Standardization
- Digital Libraries
Put in place a funding model to support the coordination of the program and assist in funding the development of the Clearinghouse and the agreements

Step One - Build the Agreements

Establish the consortium (governance)
Establish a team to coordinate and manage
Develop the legal agreements to:
- Ensure publishers deliver e-text/e-files
- Ensure AccessCopyright provides access to alternate format publishers and publishers

Step Two - Design the Clearinghouse

Step Three - Develop the Clearinghouse