OFF: MEIN KAMPF BANNED IN SWEDEN

[Craig Shipley]

Hmmmm, this seems to be an issue of COPYRIGHT as opposed to the banning of
the book for its' political content. I oppose the banning of any material or
free speech, as I feel that one needs to be able to hear or read what people
of opposing viewpoints have to say (AKA "know your adversary"). This just
looks like money-grubbers in action to me. And, FWIW, I happen to own a
pre-W.W.II (1938) hardback copy of Mein Kampf. It is NOT an easy read (don't
pick it up to just skim through it). Never have read the whole thing,
probably never will...
Makes tech manuals seem thrilling...

------------------------------------------------------------------
Craig Shipley              craigs at pyramid.com
Siemens-Pyramid Information Systems, Inc.
1100 Johnson Ferry Rd. NE        Suite 400
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-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Wikdahl <mpj95wid at MC.HIK.SE>
To: Multiple recipients of list BOC-L <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Date: Friday, October 17, 1997 9:34 AM
Subject: OFF: MEIN KAMPF BANNED IN SWEDEN


Please excuse me for sending you this via BOC-l, but I know you're
thinking persons with interrest in other things than music.
I'm _not_ a nazi - this is for me a matter of censorship/free speach
and David vs Goliat (Sweden vs Germany [ie Bayern]).
I'm not trying to start an OFF-thread, I just would like to share this
information with you.

                mvh -Daniel Wikdahl



>--------pressrelease 14 Oct 1997--------
>
>
>MEIN KAMPF BANNED IN SWEDEN
>
>On Monday 13 October a ruling by the Stockholm Regional
>Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence by the Stockholm
>City Court in the criminal case against book publisher
>Kalle Hdgglund for publishing Adolf Hitler's notorious book
>Mein Kampf.
>
>The criminal case was opened on request of the Bavarian
>Ministry of Finance, which claimed to have confiscated
>Hitler's copyright for its own use. This was alleged to
>have happened on the basis of Allied de-nazification
>legislation.
>
>THE RULING BY THE STOCKHOLM COURT OF APPEAL
>
>The legal, copyright matter in the case, according to the
>Court, was
>
>    - whether Bavaria has any copyright to Mein Kampf and,
>    if so, whether this copyright can be recognized as
>    valid in Sweden.
>
>According to the Defence, the essential matter in the case
>was whether the confiscation carried out by Bavaria in 1965
>was valid in Bavaria and, if so, whether that confiscation
>has any effect in Sweden. Both questions were answered in
>the negative by the Defence. Since copyright is situated
>in each copyright-protecting nation separately, a
>confiscation of copyright made in a foreign country, even
>if legally made there, cannot be legally recognized in
>Sweden. Nor are there any Swedish laws allowing
>confiscation of copyright.
>
>The Defence also referred i.a. to the Berne Convention and
>to the war-time law cases of 1941, through which the
>Swedish Supreme Court refused to recognize confiscations
>made by German authorities to the extent those
>confiscations were meant to have effect on property
>situated in Sweden. The Defence also referred to an
>eqvivalent case in Bologna, Italy, in 1971.
>
>The matters of the case as formulated by the Defence,
>however, were not dealt with by the court, which easily -
>although after a spectacularily long time for
>consideration - answered its own questions.
>
>The Court held
>
>    - that the copyright of Mein Kampf was confiscated 'in
>    its entirety' and that 'the Free State of Bavaria has
>    acquired it'; 'there is no reason to question the
>    validity of the acquisition in Germany';
>
>    - that the confiscation of the copyright and its
>    acquisition by Bavaria does not conflict with
>    international law or the Berne Convention;
>
>    - that the confiscation of copyright - or the
>    forfeiture of such a right as the result of a crime -
>is in accordance with the Swedish ordre public only in
>    exceptional cases; in this connection the Court says
>    that 'there is an element of moral rights that -
>    according to Swedish law - may not be transferred at
>    all'; (the Defence has pointed out that copyright
>    cannot - at all - be the object of confiscation by
>    authorities);
>
>    - that forfeiture of copyright can take place as a
>    consequence of a crime by the copyright-owner, provided
>    'the forfeiture is decided because of an act which,
>    also according to the Swedish point of view,
>    constitutes a serious crime';
>
>    - that 'Sweden has recognized the creation of the
>    transitional constitution /of Germany/ through the
>    Potsdam-conference in 1945; the laws and regulations
>    created to liberate Germany from Nazism cannot in
>    themselves be considered as obviously inconsistent with
>    the Swedish legal view'.
>
>    - that 'the interests of a personal character which are
>    attached to this literary work - which after the
>    decease of the author belong to his heirs - and his
>    own literary reputation are, considering the
>    circumstances, no interest worth protecting in this
>    case'.
>
>Instead of the penalty of a fine of SEK 5000, valid during
>the judicial procedure, the Court of Appeal set a penalty
>to the unusually high sum of SEK 1,000,000 (# 100,000),
>which is the sum the Hdgglund Publishing house vill have to
>pay in case it publishes Mein Kampf again.
>
>As a consequence, Hitler's book, instead of being openly
>debated in the political life of Sweden, is likely to be
>confined to the marginal neo-nazi circles in Sweden, where
>other publications of Mein Kampf all along have been
>printed without any disturbance from Bavarian authorities.
>
>Strongly worded protests were lodged against the initial
>proceedings against Mr. Kalle Hdgglund in 1994. The
>Swedish Writers' Union and the Swedish Association of
>Publishers expressed their deep concern. The interference
>into internal Swedish affairs made by the German ambassador
>and German officials of the embassy in Stockholm have been
>pointed out, with references made to Sweden's long
>democratic tradition and the extremely succesful struggle
>against nazism in the 1930's, which was carried out under
>protection of the freedom of speech for all political
>views, including that of the Nazis. It was generally
>believed that the banning of Mein Kampf in 1994 in Sweden
>would be amended by the Regional Court of Appeal in
>Stockholm.
>
>The Defence today announces that an appeal will be made to
>the Supreme Court of Sweden.
>
>
>         For further information:
>         Erik Gvthe Law Firm tel/fax +46-8246004
>         <goethe at stockholm.mail.telia.com>
>
>//
>
>

"Byalagen dr redgivare et de politiska ndmnderna, se dr det."
                                        -Joachim Hekansson

Daniel Wikdahl
Kaptensgatan 2a
S-39 236 KALMAR
SWEDEN
+46 480 245 11