MLK, Inc

TOURISTS climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial will soon know the exact spot where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963—if the Senate approves a bill passed by the House on November 9 to mark the site with a plaque. It’s a good idea: King delivered the 20th century’s Gettysburg Address there. Commemorative plaques were invented for such purposes.

It had better be small, though, and shouldn’t quote too extensively from the speech. If it does, the federal government could be slapped with a lawsuit by the King estate for violating a copyright. When USA Today reprinted the text of the speech in 1993, the King family sued. The newspaper eventually forked over $1,700, plus legal fees. The producer of the television documentary Eyes on the Prize also has heard from King lawyers, and wound up paying thousands of dollars for using material claimed by the Kings. And CBS is currently embroiled in an expensive legal battle with the estate for broadcasting footage that its own cameras recorded during the March on Washington. On November 5, a federal appeals court said the case could move forward. Got MLK? It will cost you.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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TOURISTS climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial will soon know the exact spot where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963—if the Senate approves a bill passed by the House on November 9 to mark the site with a plaque. It’s a good idea: King delivered the 20th century’s Gettysburg Address there. Commemorative plaques were invented for such purposes.

It had better be small, though, and shouldn’t quote too extensively from the speech. If it does, the federal government could be slapped with a lawsuit by the King estate for violating a copyright. When USA Today reprinted the text of the speech in 1993, the King family sued. The newspaper eventually forked over $1,700, plus legal fees. The producer of the television documentary Eyes on the Prize also has heard from King lawyers, and wound up paying thousands of dollars for using material claimed by the Kings. And CBS is currently embroiled in an expensive legal battle with the estate for broadcasting footage that its own cameras recorded during the March on Washington. On November 5, a federal appeals court said the case could move forward. Got MLK? It will cost you.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.