In an effort to extend the copyright it holds on “The Diary of Anne Frank,” the Anne Frank Fonds controversially listed Anne's father, Otto Frank, as the work's co-author. The move enables the Swiss Foundation that owns the copyright to extend their ownership of the work to 2050. The original copyright was supposed to expire on Jan. 1, 2016 in most of Europe.
Originally, Otto Frank was credited as the editor of his daughter's diary which was written when the family lived in secret in the attic of their friend in order to hide from Nazis. Although he had maintained during his lifetime that the words in the published book were mostly of his daughter's, the foundation's decision to list him as the co-author reportedly contradicts that long-held position.
According to many critics of the decision, the listing of Otto as the diary's co-author undermines copyright laws.
“There is a good reason that copyrights are limited, so that people can freely use [written materials]. It doesn’t mean that they need to be protected for all eternity,” said copyright lawyer and professor at the University of Amsterdam, Stef van Gompel.
However, Anne Frank Fonds maintains that financial gain is not behind their motive to extend the copyright of the diary since they donate most of the proceeds from the sales of the book to charity. Since its first publication, “The Diary Of Anne Frank” has been translated to 70 different languages and has sold over 30 millions copies worldwide.
But philanthropy is not a good enough reason to take advantage of copyright laws, say many observers. In particular, some point out that this may be the foundation's way to circumvent the plans of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam to release an online version of the diary next year.
The two entities have long been feuding over trademark and copyrights relating to the diary. Their plans, as well as those of many other publishers' to print new editions of the diary may now be put on hold due to the extension of the copyright.
To further complicate the matter, the Anne Frank Fond may extend the copyright even longer. This is due to a 1991 “definitive edition” of the diary which extended the original book by 25 per cent and was published with a second editor, Mirjam Pressler. This updated version of the diary contained notes from Anne's other notebooks as well as sections which Otto previously did not want to publish. It was also adapted into a Broadway play in 1997 starring Natalie Portman.
After Pressler secured the copyright to her edition of the diary, the rights were transferred to the foundation. This could conceivably mean that the Anne Frank Fond may be able to extend the copyright of the work for another 70 years after Pressler dies.
As Anne Frank herself wrote in her diary, “Why do grown-ups quarrel so easily?”
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