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Mein Kampf remains one of the most contentious books ever published. Written by Adolf Hitler while imprisoned after his failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, the two-volume autobiography and rant details his anti-Semitic views and the political ideology that would later underpin the Third Reich. The book is still printed and widely available in American libraries and bookstores, raising the question: Who benefits financially from its sales? With no heirs to Hitler's estate, the ethics of profiting from his harmful manifesto have been debated since its first release.
In 1933, Houghton Mifflin, a textbook publisher, brought the first English translation of Mein Kampf to America, titled My Battle. This led to a petition urging the New York City Board of Education to discontinue using Houghton Mifflin’s books. In response, the publisher defended its decision, asserting that placing My Battle in public hands was a service to humanity, allowing people to judge for themselves whether the book was an example of ignorance and foolishness. However, the legal battle surrounding Mein Kampf in the U.S. was not focused on its content but rather on copyright violations.
When Hitler copyrighted Mein Kampf in 1925, he had renounced his Austrian citizenship, making him a 'stateless German.' This allowed Pennsylvania-based Stackpole to release its own version of the book in the U.S. without obtaining the rights. A federal court ruled that the book was in the public domain, prompting another publisher, Reynal & Hitchcock, to release their edition as well. According to Cabinet Magazine, Stackpole advertised that it paid no royalties to Hitler, while Reynal & Hitchcock pledged all proceeds to a refugee aid fund. Houghton Mifflin later appealed the decision, and in 1939, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in its favor, granting exclusive rights to the publisher to distribute Mein Kampf in the U.S.
Hitler never received any of the royalties from the American sales. By the time the legal battles concluded, World War II had begun, and the U.S. passed the Trading with the Enemy Act, enabling the government to seize all profits from Mein Kampf. According to New Statesmen, "During the Second World War, the U.S. government earned over $20,000 in royalties from Mein Kampf... By 1979, the Justice Department had gathered over $139,000 in royalties." These funds were directed to the War Claims Fund, and eventually, they were distributed to claimants, many of whom were American former POWs.
In 1979, Houghton Mifflin spent $37,254 to repurchase the publishing rights to Mein Kampf from the U.S. government. Cabinet reports that "Over the next 20 years, with annual sales of about fifteen thousand copies, Houghton Mifflin's profits from its $37,254 investment ranged between $300,000 and $700,000. However, in October 2000, following the publication of a U.S. News and World Report article chronicling its publication history, Houghton Mifflin pledged to donate all profits from Mein Kampf to charitable causes."
A representative from Houghton Mifflin confirms that they "donate all royalties and profits from the book to organizations that promote diversity and cross-cultural understanding. These include The Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation and Facing History and Ourselves."
According to German copyright law, a book enters the public domain at the start of the new year, 70 years after the author's death. On January 1, 2016, the copyright for Mein Kampf expired. In Germany, the state of Bavaria holds the book's rights and has prohibited its publication. German officials are currently preparing for the copyright's expiration and are considering new legislation to prevent its release, or, if that proves impossible, to ensure that a scholarly edition is produced, offering a critical analysis to deconstruct the harmful text.
