Posted on 11/13/2008 8:18:32 PM PST by Chester92
ATLANTA (AP) — Zealous guardians of his words and his likeness, the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is demanding a share of the proceeds from the sudden wave of T-shirts, posters and other merchandise depicting the civil rights leader alongside Barack Obama.
Isaac Newton Farris Jr., King's nephew and head of the nonprofit King Center in Atlanta, said the estate is entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees — maybe even millions. "Some of this is probably putting food on people's plates. We're not trying to stop anybody from legitimately supporting themselves," he said, "but we cannot allow our brand to be abused."
But while Obama's election as the first black president may be the fulfillment of King's dream and could yield a big windfall for his estate, policing his image and actually collecting any fees could prove to be a legal nightmare because of the great proliferation of unauthorized King-Obama paraphernalia, much of it sold by street vendors.
King's writings, likeness and voice are considered intellectual property, and almost any use — from graduate thesis papers to TV documentaries — are subject to approval by his estate, now administered by his surviving children, Martin Luther King III, Dexter King and the Rev. Bernice King. (Because Obama is an elected official, his words and image are in the public domain and can be used without permission.)
Farris said he expects to announce deals in the coming weeks to license some items featuring images of King and Obama, and may sell some in the King Center bookstore alongside recordings of his speeches, postcards, calendars, mugs bearing images of King, and other licensed merchandise, which nets the center about $800,000 annually.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
For every dollar that you make, we make a dime?? Holy cow!!
Don’t they want to “share the wealth?”
Time to start marketing “Chester92” shirts and collectable mugs.
The King “kids” are deserving of all the contempt that can be hurled toward them..
For them - it was ALWAYS about money — and they mismanged every dime that came their way...
A POX on all their asses.
Good for them! MLK was a Republican!
JUst had another thought, Sarah Palin’s “calendar” will probably outsell both of them this year...and put her face on a coffee mug, and everyone will be buying them.
They should contact Lars Ulrich - he did a bang-up job with his intellectual property problems...
Maybe way back when, when they were children without a father anymore, money was needed at home so Mrs King didnt have to work. It is 40 years later, and by now they have been abusing his legacy- it really should be in the public domain. They charge everyone. It is a shame. It’s one thing to go after souvenir sellers, but even quotes which are well-known are liable to bring lawsuits. That said, this ought to be entertaining.
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