Fergie's Tech Blog

MLK's 'I Have A Dream" Speech Rarely Heard Due to Copyright Issues

Personally, I find this eerily contrary to what Dr. King himself would've have wanted.

On this day where we in the United States, no -- the World over -- celebrate -- The Man, The Meaning, and The Legacy -- that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has left us, the last thing that should stand in the way of getting his message to the masses should be issues of copyright on his words and ideas, and it flys in the face of the spririt of his message to us all. Find the video here.

Enjoy this man's message -- it's damned important.

Valerie Strauss writes in The Washington Post:

When King was killed, his family was left without much money. The family earns income from licensing his image and charging fees for the use of his speeches. Some of his papers are free for researchers to look through. The King family did not respond to queries for this article.

Joseph Beck, an attorney for the King family and an expert in intellectual property rights, said, "The King family has always supported providing access to the speech and to the video for educational purchases and encourages interested persons to contact the King Center in Atlanta." According to the family's Web site, videotapes and audiotapes of the speech can be purchased for $10, but one copy often is not enough for an entire school, and many schools don't know what materials are available.

Many schools use the text -- often taken in violation of the copyright from the Internet. The King family, however, wants teachers to use the speech and has not pursued legal action against educators, Carson said.

Critics of the King family's decision not to put the speech in the public domain say the poorest children are the most deprived.

More here.

posted by Fergie @ 1/16/2006 09:11:00 PM