MLK Speech Not in the Public Domain

Martin Luther King’s estate has continued tocopyright King’s famous ” I have a Dream” speech, which recentlycelebrated its 50th anniversary. The speech cannot be found legally unless alicense has been granted by King’s estate. 

During his lifetime, King did not register thespeech with the Registrar of Copyrights. The estate manager’s did so afterKing’s death. They reasoned that the copyright should be extended for thebenefit of King’s decedents. Others believe that the speech is a piece ofhistory and should be in the public domain. Moreover, many believe that keepingthe speech protected under copyright is inherently at odds with King would havewanted people to do with his speech. 

CBS, Inc. got into trouble after broadcasting theKing speech. Shortly after the broadcast, managers of King’s Estate sued CBS,Inc.. In the case, the court ruled that the speech was classified as a performanceand was covered by copyright and remanded the case to back to the districtcourt. CBS, Inc. and the King Estate negotiated a settlement before going backto district court. 

See Mark Leiser, King of Copyright: On the 50th Anniversary of ‘I have a Dream’, MLK’s Estate Limits Use of Landmark Speech, The Drum, Aug. 26, 2013.