Head Tale

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.)