Anne Frank and Novel Copyright Challenges

Under European law, the copyright for Anne Frank’s diary is due to expire Jan. 1, 2016, 70 years after she died in the Holocaust. But Anne Frank Fonds, the foundation that serves as the Frank family’s heir, plans to argue that timeline, claiming that Anne’s father Otto’s work reshaping the diary and other documents into the book as it is read today makes him a co-author. Under that interpretation, the copyright would not expire until 2050 – 70 years after Otto’s passing in 1980. That argument has raised the ire of critics as it seems to contradict Otto’s insistence that the book contains his daughter’s words, and he acted only as editor. And at least one copyright expert wonders if by insisting Otto is a co-author, the foundation has now made the diary a derivative work, in which case the actual text of Anne Frank’s diary might fall into public domain next year after all.