When you ask people the meaning of learning history, the most of them will say, “so that we can learn from the mistakes we made in the past and never repeat them again.” According to this reasoning, one will also say, “if Hitler were alive today, we would never support him.”
Copyrighting Anne Frank’s Diary
On January 1, Anne Frank’s diary was published online by more than one person, despite outcry from the Anne Frank Fonds, the foundation founded by Anne’s father. The argument of the publishing academics was that more than 70 years have passed since the death of Anne Frank in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, which sends the work into the public domain across most of Europe. However, the foundation argues that Otto Frank, as editor and publisher, held the copyright. He died in 1980, making the work still under copyright. Additionally, the translator that worked with Otto Frank on the diary, another copyright holder, is still alive.