Family Appeals Ruling on King ‘Dream’ Speech

ATLANTA — The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would not have wanted his “I Have a Dream” speech used for commercial purposes without his approval, even though reporters got copies before it was delivered, a King family lawyer told a federal appeals court Tuesday.

The family is asking the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule that the famous speech is private property and that CBS News should have to pay for infringing on King’s copyright by including footage from the speech in a documentary.

“He wouldn’t have authorized this. He wouldn’t have given away his most valuable work,” said attorney Joseph Beck of Atlanta.

A federal district judge ruled last year that the speech belongs to the public and CBS did not violate copyright law. The King family appealed to the 11th Circuit.

Nine minutes of the 16-minute speech, delivered at the Lincoln Memorial during an Aug. 28, 1963, civil rights rally, were used in “The 20th Century with Mike Wallace,” a documentary the network sold on videotape.

“CBS thought it was doing nothing wrong,” said CBS lawyer Floyd Abrams. “In fact, CBS thought it was genuinely serving the public in doing a documentary on the civil rights movement and the march on Washington.”

The King estate filed suit in 1996, seeking to stop CBS from using the footage in the documentary. According to the estate, King registered the speech with the U.S. Copyright Office shortly after the event.

CBS said the estate has no right to claim ownership of the footage, taken by CBS.

Last July, U.S. District Judge William O’Kelley ruled that King forfeited any copyright interest when he distributed advance copies without copyright notice, placed no restrictions on what use could be made of the speech and generally encouraged distribution.

Experts on the 1st Amendment say a ruling for the King estate could have serious implications for the use of public statements by individuals in news events.