PARIS — When Otto Frank first published his daughter’s red-checked diary
and notebooks, he wrote a prologue assuring readers that the book mostly
contained her words, written while hiding from the Nzzis in a secret annex of a
factory in Amsterdam.
But now the Swiss foundation that holds the copyright to “The Diary of
Anne Frank” is alerting publishers that her father is not only the editor but
also legally the co-author of the celebrated book.
The move has a practical effect: It extends the copyright from Jan. 1,
when it is set to expire in most of Europe, to the end of 2050. Copyrights in
Europe generally end 70 years after an author’s death. Anne Frank died
70 years ago at Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp, and Otto Frank died in
1980. Extending the copyright would block others from being able to publish the
book without paying royalties or receiving permission.
In the United States, the diary’s copyright will still end in 2047, 95
years after the first publication of the book in 1952.
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