News Corner﹕Disputes over Anne Frank's Diary
【明報專訊】Anne Frank (1929-1945) was the Jewish girl who wrote The Diary of a Young Girl (《安妮日記》). It documents her life in Europe in the Nazi-era. It is 70 years since she died. On 1 January 2016, an academic and a National Assembly member in France separately published The Diary of a Young Girl online for free though the Anne Frank Fonds, its copyright holder, had threatened to take legal action.
Anne Frank was a Holocaust victim. She died in a concentration camp in 1945. She was then 15. Her diary is one of the primary pieces of literature that depict life in the Nazi-era. Over 30 millions copies of it have been sold since it was first published in 1947.
On 1 January 2016, Olivier Ertzscheid, a lecturer at the University of Nantes, and Isabelle Attard, a member of the National Assembly, made the diary available online for free by reason of a European law. The law says any book whose author (authors) has (have) been dead for 70 years is in the public domain.
(source: Ming Pao, The Guardian, International Business Times)
■Photo story
Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is an all-time bestseller.
■Words
Nazi-era 納粹時期
Holocaust (二戰時納粹對猶太人的)大屠殺
concentration camp 集中營
public domain 公眾領域
■Quiz
Choose the correct answers. (answers on next text)
1. According to the article, what did Olivier Ertzscheid and Isabelle Attard do?
a. They wrote The Diary of a Young Girl.
b. They published The Diary of a Young Girl online.
c. They took legal action against the Anne Frank Fonds.
2. When was The Diary of a Young Girl first published?
a. 2016
b. 1947
c. 1993
3. Which of the following words from paragraph one means ''record''?
a. document
b. publish
c. legal
4. According to paragraph three, under a European law, any book whose author (authors) has (have) passed away 70 years ago is ______.
a. published online
b. private property
c. public property
■Glossary
Jewish (adj) 猶太人的
academic (n) 學者
threaten (v) 威脅
literature (n)文學