Legislation

The Swedish Constitution

The Swedish Constitution (section 2) states that all citizens are guaranteed freedom of information and freedom of speech. This implies that print disabled citizens have the right to written information through whichever medium they can access.

Copyright

Swedish Copyright Law, changed in 2005, permits libraries and organisations officially authorized by the government, to produce published books as phonograms for lending to print disabled people. This can be done without the permission of authors or publishers.

Anyone is entitled to produce braille copies of published books.

The Libraries Act

The Libraries Act is a framework law, stipulating that every municipality shall provide library services for its citizens. Article 8 states that public libraries and school libraries shall pay special attention to disabled persons and their need for literature.

The Swedish Assistance Benefit Act

The Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments states that each municipality must take measures to provide persons with certain functional impairments with necessary daily services and information.

Postal regulations

According to Section 2 of the Swedish Postal Regulations, Sweden has agreed to follow the regulations laid down by the Universal Postal Union stating that braille books and talking books are delivered free of postage to and from libraries for the blind and their borrowers.