King’s Fiery Speech Rarely Heard

King’s Fiery Speech Rarely Heard

All of King’s speeches and papers are owned by his family, which has gone to court several times since the 1990s to protect its copyright; King obtained rights to his most famous speech a month after he gave it. Now, those who want to hear or use the speech in its entirety must buy a copy sanctioned by the King family, which receives the proceeds.

Doesn’t something about this just feel wrong? I know there is a long history in the world of living off of the fruits of the accomplishments of our family forebears, but is this what MLK would have wanted?

The more I learn about how copyright is used, the more I think the system needs a radical overhaul. Of course that could just be because the copyrights I own aren’t worth that much.

Via Boing Boing.