Mein Kampf set for re-publication after copyright expiry
A German research organisation is reportedly planning to re-publish a version of Adolf Hitler’s controversial book Mein Kampf after the copyright protecting it expires at the end of this year.
The Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ), based in Munich, will publish an annotated issue of the book, which details Hitler’s political views.
Copyright ownership of the original Mein Kampf, first published in 1925 and which translates as “my struggle”, was passed to the state of Bavaria following the end of World War II.
Hitler died in April 1945, with the war ending in September. His book is set to fall out of copyright as the ‘life pus 70 years’ term (copyright lasts for 70 years after the author’s death) is due to expire, although that term applies until the end of the relevant calendar year.
The state, which has not released or published the book since receiving the copyright, has said it opposes the dissemination of Nazi propaganda.
But by the start of next year, the copyright protecting the book will have already expired, leaving the door open for others to print and sell the book.
Most of IfZ’s re-published book will feature comments and annotations from researchers, while the rest of the publication will be made up of Hitler’s original text.
Last year, WIPR reported that Bavaria’s justice minister Winfried Bausback said that although the state could not prevent re-publication of the book after the copyright expires, it should be “at least” guaranteed that it is a scholarly work that provides a scientific and critical analysis in order to demystify the “horrible” text.
The book, which outlines Hitler’s plans for eastern conquests and his anti-Semitic views, is widely available abroad and has been translated into 16 languages, with several issues having been printed after 1945.
But the news of re-publication has attracted criticism.
Levi Salomon, a spokesman for the Berlin-based group Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism, told the Washington Post: “I am absolutely against the publication of Mein Kampf, even with annotations. Can you annotate the Devil? Can you annotate a person like Hitler?”
The IfZ did not respond to a request for comment.
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