A leading historian wants ‘Mein Kampf’ to be republished in Germany. Copyright issues have kept it off the shelves since World War II, but in 2015 it will enter the public domain. Then, anyone will be allowed to print it — including neo-Nazis.
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Contrary to popular belief, the book is not actually banned in Germany. Instead, the copyright is held by the state of Bavaria, which took over the rights of the main Nazi party publishing house Eher-Verlag — including the rights for “Mein Kampf” — after the end of World War II as part of the Allies’ de-Nazification program. As copyright holder, the state has since refused to allow the book to be published, on the grounds that it would promote right-wing extremism. The German Foreign Ministry has also repeatedly recommended that the book not be published, for fear of damaging Germany’s image abroad.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,494891,00.html
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