Finally, No More Fees

To the Editors:

Regarding the issue of the Bundesarchiv profiting from the use of archival material of the Nazi era raised in my letter in these pages [“Shameful Profits,” NYR, April 20, 2023], a spokesperson for the minister of state in the Federal Chancellery and the federal government commissioner for culture and the media, Claudia Roth, issued the following statement:

The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) has already taken the decision to discontinue the previous practice and to waive the fees for the use of images, posters, film and video material from the National Socialist era at the Bundesarchiv. This relates solely to commercial utilisation requests, as utilisation for non-commercial purposes has also been exempt from the obligation to pay fees to date. Preparations are currently underway to implement the fee waiver for commercial uses of audiovisual material from the National Socialist era. The introduction is planned for April 2024.

I would like to thank The New York Review for its invaluable help in drawing attention to this ethical and political matter and its positive resolution.

Manolis Vasilakis
Editor in Chief
Athens Review of Books
Athens, Greece