As we have seen from the previous two entries in this series,
copyright laws often have unintended, and at times down right strange,
consequences. One of the oddest works that has been impacted by the copyright system
is Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”).
Written while incarcerated for attempting to overthrow the
German Weimer government, Mein Kampf is part autobiography, part political
statement, and part a step-by-step plan for the Nazi party takeover of Germany
and the rest of Europe. The book was published in 1925 and sales were steady,
although not spectacular. When Hitler
became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, however, the book became a bestseller (it
was even given to every newly married couple and every soldier fighting at the
front).
The book’s worldwide popularity increased with Hitler’s rising
power, which necessitated translations from German into other languages. The
first English translation, by Edgar Dugdale, was published in 1931. Interestingly,
Dugdale was active in the Zionist movement. Houghton Mifflin purchased the
rights in the United States in Dugdale’s translation. Soon others began
publishing competing versions of the English translation of Mein Kampf, and
Houghton Mifflin was forced to defend their copyright. The first suit against small publisher,
Stackpole & Sons, is
notable for its holding: that a stateless person (in this case Hitler) has the
same status under U.S. copyright law as any other foreigner. Another suit involved journalist (and later U.S.
Senator from California) Alan Cranston. Cranston believed that the published English
translations of Mein Kampf failed to give the real flavor of Hitler’s
hate. Believing that those who read Hitler’s own words, as translated by
Cranston, would be motivated to do something about Hitler before he was able to
put his plan into action, Cranston published his own translation of the work. Houghton
Mifflin sued Cranston and won, forcing Cranston to stop publishing his tract. In
other words, the copyright laws resulted in Adolf Hitler (through his U.S.
publisher) suing a future U.S. Senator and winning!
During World War II, the U.S. government seized the
copyright to Mein Kampf under the Trading with the Enemy Act. By 1979,
the U.S. government had raked in almost $140,000 in royalties, which were
distributed to charities. It was in that year that Houghton Mifflin re-purchased
the copyright and again began selling the book. When Houghton Mifflin’s profits
from the sale of Mein Kampf were exposed, they reassigned the profits to
charity.
Today, Mein Kamp is published throughout the world, with
the notable exception of Germany (it is legal to possess the book and Germans with access to the Internet can
find the book online). Bavaria currently owns the German copyright (since
Bavaria was Hitler’s last permanent address), but the copyright expires in 2016,
as does Germany’s ban on its publication. In an attempt to stem the tide of
neo-Nazi publishers distributing copies of the book, the German government is considering
producing its own annotated version of the book in an effort to “steal the
thunder” of private publishers and make publication of the book a teaching
opportunity. “We intend to defuse the book. That way it will lose its symbolic
value and become what it really is: a piece of historical evidence—and nothing
more,” says Christian Hartmann, one of the academics working on the edition to
be unveiled January 1, 2016.
It is safe to say that few other books in human history have
inspired as much death and destruction as Mein Kampf. The book is a vile
exercise in hate, authored by a man whose name is synonymous with evil. That
being said, the publication history of Mein Kampf, the modern bible of
evil, is evidence that there are no exceptions to the heavy hand of copyright
law.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Comments
Post a Comment