"It lessens the historical saliency of King for younger kids"

Have you wondered why you don't hear Martin Luther King's speech much on the airwaves?

Wonder no more:

It is the time of year when students are taught about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, so passionately delivered that his call for freedom changed U.S. history. Once heard, it is impossible to forget.

But many students won't get to hear it -- and most who do will hear only snippets, educators and historians said. And that, they said, is affecting the legacy of the preeminent civil rights leader, whose life will be honored tomorrow with an annual federal holiday.

"It lessens the historical saliency of King for younger kids," said Robert Brown, assistant dean of undergraduate education at Emory University in Atlanta who specializes in African American politics. "It is one thing to read King and another to see him. Hearing him is so much more powerful than reading it."

...

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.

...

Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute and a history professor at Stanford University, said the institute "would like to make it as widely available as possible. However, I respect the King family's point of view that this is private property and there has to be a balancing of the public need versus the family need."

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.

I had no clue.

You?

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Comments

[The Ranter]

No clue either. I remember the first time I heard it, and I was blown away by the power of the speech. Kids today need to hear it.

[Jay]

The King family has made millions off of Dr. King. One of the centers here in Atlanta received millions of dollars in tax payer funding EACH year for maintenance and upkeep. Yet when inspected a few years ago they found NO maintenance had been done on the building for 10 years or more.

While I respect Dr. King, I do NOT respect his family. They've proven time and time again willing to use Dr. Kings name for personal gain.

I also don't worship him as many do in the media and school systems. My 3rd and 4th graders know more about MLK than the founding fathers or any other many great heros of this country.

[Locutisprime]

Clue? Yrs, I had a clue and direct knowledge. This has been going on for decades.The King family has famously sued several times for copyright violations and failure to be paid their due reward for his legacy.

It's all about the money and always has been. The King Center in Atlanta was built with taxpayer money and continues to be subsidized and supported by the national park service.

[Amazed]

Seems like a speech given freely in public should be in the public domain regardless of who gave it or who wrote it. If you give it behind closed doors and charge for it, fine, you get to control it. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut.

[GoneWithTheWind]

Well the good news is King's family spent all that money on scholarships for promising students and to pull poor people up out of their poverty, right? I mean it's not as though they spent those millions buying luxurious homes and cars and taking trips and partying, right? Right???

[bob sykes]

First, I thought parts of the speech were plagiarized from Archibald Carey (the famous parts), so how did they get copyright?

Second, this speech is now an embarrassment to the civil rights industry in as much as they themselves have repudiated nearly all of King's message.