German copyright law grants an author copyright for 70 years after their death. Hitler died in 1945 so that means "Mein Kampf" will enter the public domain in that country in 2015. Or will it?
There is a well-known German law banning the dissemination of Nazi ideologies which was put in place after the fall of the Third Reich. Germans (including many Jewish groups) claim that this law trumps any right the infamous work has to freely enter the public domain. Opponents counter that the diaries of Goebbels and Himmler are easily available in Germany already (as is Mein Kampf for anyone with an Internet connection).
German scholars want the work to enter the public domain so they can prepare an annotated version of "Mein Kampf" for 2015 while the government fears that Neo-Nazi groups would prepare their own propagandized version.
Libraries get a mention in the linked article as well.
"Stephan J. Kramer, secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany
in Berlin, said the publication of “Mein Kampf” continued to split the
Jewish community in Germany, with many Holocaust survivors opposing its
publication. “I have the highest respect for this opinion, but on the
other hand I’m saying very openly: The copyright is going to be waived
anyway. It’s a matter of time before the book is available in shops and
libraries,” Mr. Kramer said."
I've already discussed my own early exposure to Mein Kampf on this blog and I'm pretty sure it's clear what side of the debate I'm on - it is Freedom to Read Week after all! (I should do a post and try to list which books I think *should* be banned, if any. That'd be a fun challenge.)
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Tuesday, February 23
FTRW 2010 - Hitler and the Public Domain
by
Jason
on Tue 23 Feb 2010 10:13 PM CST
Friday, January 1
Friday Fun Link - Say '1810' (January 1, 2010)
by
Jason
on Fri 01 Jan 2010 12:30 AM CST
Then remember this as the second decade of the new millennium begins. This year should be referred to as "twenty-ten", not "two-thousand ten" (no matter what the Vancouver Olympics are being hyped as.)
And yes, I know it's not technically the start of the new decade until next year but just like everyone celebrating the turn of the Millennium in 2000 instead of 2001, sometimes you just can't fight popular opinion. Tuesday, December 22
Sunday, December 20
Student Brings Typewriter to Class
by
Jason
on Sun 20 Dec 2009 09:00 PM CST
We went to Indian Head to have an early Christmas with my folks this weekend and at one point my mom suggested renting a movie to keep Pace entertained. It did not even cross my mind that she meant VHS movie instead of DVD (let alone streaming video or BitTorrent or some of the other technologies I tend to use to watch movies these days.) But that's indeed what we ended up getting. It was a good reminder that people live at different technological time points even if we're all at the same time point on the calendar.
This experience reminded me of this video which does a great job of capturing how different technology time points might intersect when taken to the extreme: Student Brings Typewriter To Class - Watch more Funny Videos Wednesday, November 11
Lest We Forget...
by
Jason
on Wed 11 Nov 2009 05:28 PM CST
Linking to this post is becoming another annual blog tradition...  I don't know if the Army was where Grandpa got into the habit of wearing his hats just slightly askew but it was something he did for the rest of his life. And without guidance or instruction from us, Pace has picked up the same mannerism, always wanting to wear his hat just slightly cocked to the side. My eulogy for Grandpa Peet, given just a week after Pace was born, talked about biology and genetics so who knows, perhaps there's a gene for "hat-tilting" too?  Monday, November 9
Music Monday - "I saw the decade end/When it seemed the world could change/In the blink of an eye"
by
Jason
on Mon 09 Nov 2009 11:49 PM CST
Does anybody know why a company would prevent embedding of their YouTube clips? Just to maintain control of how their content is presented I guess? (This is also the first YouTube clip I've seen with a short ad embedded in front of it as well - hmmm, is that a new Google initiative or did the record company put it in there?)
Anyhow, with today being the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I thought this song was appropriate. Friday, August 21
Radiohead - Inexpensive Charity Single and a Free Song Too
by
Jason
on Fri 21 Aug 2009 08:16 PM CST
Radiohead is no stranger to innovative music practices.
Recently, they've done a couple more... - a one-off charity single, "Harry Patch (In Memory Of), to support the British Legion, an anti-war song written using the words of the UK's last surviving WWI soldier, Harry Patch who died earlier this summer. - and a brand new song, "These Are My Twisted Words", released as a free download with no requirement to even enter your e-mail address, country of origin or a default "Send Us Info" button checked (unlike another top UK-based band) Friday, August 7
Friday Fun Link - World's Oldest Map Found, Dates To 14 000 Years Ago (Aug 7, 2009)
by
Jason
on Fri 07 Aug 2009 09:39 PM CST
I can't help but use my "Digital Footprints" tag on this story!
 "The landscape depicted corresponds exactly to the surrounding geography," she said. "Complete with herds of ibex marked on one of the mountains visible from the cave itself." (via Reddit) |
 www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from shealisahammond. Make your own badge here.
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