17 U.S.C. § 121 — Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction for blind or other people with disabilities

(a) The basic rule. Normally, copying or distributing a published book or piece of sheet music without permission infringes copyright (under section 106). But this section says it's not infringement when an "authorized entity" reproduces or distributes copies in "accessible formats" — like braille or audio — and does so only for "eligible persons," as those terms are defined below. (b) Rules for those accessible copies. (1) Any copy made under this section must: stay in an accessible format and go only to eligible people — it can't be reproduced or distributed in any other format; carry a notice saying that reproducing or distributing it in a non-accessible format is copyright infringement; and include a copyright notice naming the copyright owner and the date the work was first published. (2) This section does not cover standardized, secure, or norm-referenced tests and related testing materials, or computer programs — except for the parts of a computer program written in ordinary human language (including descriptions of pictures) that users normally see while using the program. (c) Textbook publishers and the national accessibility center. Separately, it's not infringement for a publisher of print instructional materials for elementary or secondary schools to create and send the National Instructional Materials Access Center electronic files of those materials — built to the National Instructional Material Accessibility Standard — as long as: a state or local school agency required the materials to include that content; the publisher already had the right to publish the materials in print; and the copies are used only to reproduce or distribute the material's content in accessible formats. (d) Definitions. (1) "Accessible format" means a version of the work that lets an eligible person use it, as long as only eligible people actually use that version — giving them access about as easily and comfortably as someone without the relevant disability. (2) "Authorized entity" means a nonprofit organization or government agency whose main mission is providing specialized training, education, adaptive reading, or information-access services to blind people or people with other disabilities. (3) "Eligible person" means anyone who, regardless of any other disability: is blind; has a visual impairment or a perceptual or reading disability that can't be corrected enough to read printed material about as well as someone without the disability; or has a physical disability that keeps them from holding or handling a book, or from focusing or moving their eyes enough to read normally. (4) "Print instructional materials" has the meaning given in section 674(e)(3)(C) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.