Harry Belafonte Sues Martin Luther King Jr.'s Heirs In Yet Another Fight Over 'Ownership' Of His Words
from the sued-at-last,-sued-at-least... dept
We've covered how Martin Luther King Jr.'s heirs have a long and unfortunate history of being over-aggressive enforcers of the intellectual property of their father -- not for the good of society and civil rights, but rather for revenue maximization. At times it's reached ridiculous levels, and the latest is that the famed singer Harry Belafonte is now suing MLK's heirs after they've spent years blocking his attempt to sell (for charity) some documents that Belafonte received from King and King's wife. King's heirs argue that Belafonte got these documents through questionable means and they belong to the estate. The details suggest, yet again, that this is just yet another fight where the King heirs are so focused on ownership that they don't seem to care about anything else.Mr. Belafonte, who often supported the King family financially during the civil rights struggle, said the dispute pains him. He said in his view, Dr. King’s children had drifted away from their father’s values. “The papers are symbolic,” he said. “It’s really about what happened to the children, and I feel that somewhere, in this one area, I really failed Martin.”Of course, what isn't clearly delineated in the NYT article about all this is the difference between ownership of the documents and the holding the copyright on the contents. Late in the article, a lawyer claims it's about the copyright:
Clarence B. Jones, Dr. King’s lawyer and close friend, said the King family had every right to protect its copyright.However, it doesn't seem like this fight has anything to do with copyright at all. After all, the copyright doesn't change hands with the letter (and the King estate almost certainly doesn't hold the copyright in the letter from President Lyndon B. Johnson to Mrs. King, which is included in the documents they're fighting over). Furthermore, even if Belafonte had the documents that included works that were potentially covered by copyright for King, the copyright would still remain with the King estate, but Belafonte could still sell the physical documents under the first sale doctrine.
That said, given how aggressive the King estate has been over copyright as well as physical ownership of documents (they went after Boston University to get back a trove of documents King had directly donated to the school), it shows yet again how copyright is a tool that is used all too often for control, rather than for "the progress of science" as prescribed by the Constitution.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: harry belafonte, letters, martin luther king jr., mlk, ownership
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Jobs?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
All that greed, all that power, all that anger.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
King Estate Debauchers
I have some really bad news for you. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are already in my head. I know you think you own them, but they are in my head. I am not the only one who has your fathers words in their head. There are likely millions who have his words in their heads.
Come and get them.
Regards,
All of us who respect culture over money
PS Good luck with that!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: King Estate Debauchers
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Thai citizen Supap Kirtsaeng appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect his rights when textbook publisher John Wiley & Sons tried to use copyright law to halt Kirtsaeng.
The King heirs are trying to use copyright law in order to acquire the physical ownership of the documents.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Congress? It's easier to the get the attention of a cat than Congress.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
if, unlike him, i think all that is hogwash, i guess i don't too much care, except it is pretty unseemly and demeans the good man's name while troubling some good people who don't deserve it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I have a dream
I had a bad dream that men will be judged by the contents of their bank accounts not by the content of their character.
I have a dream that one day my children will read my speeches and live by the values I sought to teach this great nation so they can free their souls from the devils grasp that is fed by the deadly sin of greed.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I have a dream
They should be careful. Their character is starting to show.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I have a dream
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Copyright as a tool.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
see, the system works!
we need MORE copyright laws so that we can have more civil rights...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
First Sale Doctrine
There is always the possibility I'm wrong, but I'd argue first sale in any follow-up dispute about this, and, the strong odds are that a judge would agree with me in a pre-trial motion to dismiss.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: First Sale Doctrine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Dream" march/rally
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Intellectual Property Rights
I say, That's Capitalism and More Power To Them!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Copyright Stupidity
Somehow I doubt that he would say "you must pay to use my words"
Shame on those that seek to profit from this Icon of the modern world
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Copyright Stupidity
I've been wondering about this ever since that television advert based on King's famous, downright iconic "I have a dream" speech to a big crowd, in front of news cameras, and biographers and documentary-film makers being held for ransom by the King estate-- how can a historical event and historical record like this be controlled by copyright holders / "IP owners"?.
Allowing copyright to be applied this way seems un-sane, at the least.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]