Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech Can’t Be Used Without His Family’s Approval. Here’s Why

NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 10: Martin Luther King Speaking on September 10, 1963 in New York, New York. … [+] (Photo by Santi Visalli/Getty images)

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With his altruistic goal, one would think that Dr. Martin Luther King would have welcomed the most widespread and unfettered dissemination of his speeches as possible. As it stands, however, the writings, documents and recordings of Martin Luther King, Jr., including his “I Have a Dream” speech, are protected as his estate’s intellectual property. 

Inasmuch as Dr. King’s delivery of the “I Have a Dream” speech was filmed and recorded, it became fixed in a tangible medium of expression; it was then registered with the copyright office. Whereas a copyright protects such original works of authorship, with limited exceptions Dr. King’s speeches cannot be used without prior approval by his estate for a term of life plus 70 years.

The exception to the need for prior authorization is the use of excerpts of speeches—where in a manner that comports with the so-called Fair Use doctrine, i.e., in the form of a brief quotations in articles and reviews—where there is no attendant profit or other commerce. But even then, the legal confines of the right are uncertain, and the King estate has been highly proactive in restricting such usage, including engaging in litigation to eliminate uses of Dr. King’s work absent the payment of license fees.

To be sure, the “I Have a Dream” speech is not in the public domain and its use should be assumed to require the payment of a licensing fee to the King Center, the repository of his legacy. It sells DVD’s of the speech, treating his speeches as commercial literary works.

The estate also treats Dr. King’s name as a brand, for commercial exploitation solely by his family. For their part, courts have ruled that recordings of King’s oration, whether audio or visual, belong to the King family and its publisher, EMI Music Publishing, which has licensed his speeches, together with Dr. King’s image for use in various projects, including a 2001 Alcatel commercial, and a 2018 Super Bowl commercial for pickup trucks.

In fact, the MLK estate has been tenacious in restricting the use of King’s speeches. For instance, in the 1990s, the estate sued USA Today for reprinting the “I Have a Dream” speech such that the newspaper settled by paying a license and attorneys’ fees. The MLK estate also successfully sued the creators of documentary series on the civil rights movement, called Eyes on the Prize, for using film taken of King speeches. The estate filed suit against CBS VIAC for broadcasting filmed footage of Dr. King in a documentary. CBS argued that the speech had entered into the public domain and whereas it succeeded with this defense at the trial court level, it lost on appeal. The estate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For reproduction in print or recordings of the works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. one should contact the Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in Atlanta, Georgia.