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Martin Luther King Jr's Children In Court Over MLK IP
cervesaebraciator writes "Slashdot has reported before about the copyright nightmare of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech. Now, questions of intellectual property and the legacy of Dr. King have caused his children to go to court. The estate, run by King's sons, claims the rights to the intellectual property and memorabilia of Dr. King as assets. Accordingly, it has filed suit against the non-profit Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change, run by King's daughter, for plans to continue using King memorabilia once a royalty-free licensing agreement expires, (which the estate says will be in September). As is the case with increasing frequency, one is left to wonder about the implications intellectual property claims have for free speech when they can be applied to so public a figure as Dr. King."
Dr. King was certainly a very positive agent of change in the world. Too bad his children now exemplify everything that is wrong with it.
I don't think this was part of King's dream.
I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the contents of their IP portfolio. Where they can use their last name to profit from my legacy.
Is 1563649 a prime number?
...that my children will undo everything positive about my life.
As far as I'm concerned (ianal), the "I have a dream" speech was a historical, public, and defining of an important part of our society. It can't be copyrighted. Any lowlife trying to capitalize on that should be thrown in jail.
MLK's legacy has largely been decimated by those who claim to support him the most.
One of his most famous sayings was that he had a dream that his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
People like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who are now seen as civil rights leaders, basically threw that out completely.and shit on it at almost every turn. Groups like the NAACP are pushing for criminal prosecution of, for example, the rodeo clown who made fun of Obama, even though people in much bigger areas of the limelight have done much worse things to make fun of other presidents. George Zimmerman would never have seen prosecution if he was black or Trayvon was white; guilty or not the evidence just wasn't there which is why they originally chose not to prosecute, and only did so after pressure from racial groups, which goes to show that in America, now the only requirement for prosecution is that public opinion be against you regardless of whether or not you can be proven guilty.
And how are programs like affirmative action following in that spirit? They tell you that, for example, if you have slanted eyes then you immediately deserve lower preference than anybody, but if you have black skin then you automatically get to be first in line.
What a joke the civil rights movement has become.
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I wondered how this speech could even be copyrighted, as apparently it wasn't registered. Mr wiki says there was a lawsuit a few years ago to determine whether the speech was copyrighted or not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream
What I don't get is, Mr wiki also claims the speech is under copyright for 120 years, but shouldn't it have been death + 50 years?
The worst part about it, is I find it difficult to believe that someone who made a speech like that would not want it in the public domain. Not having it in the public domain sort of defeats the purpose of the speech.
George Zimmerman would never have seen prosecution if he was black or Trayvon was white
Are you kidding?! George Zimmerman would have been put away for life if he was black and Trayvon was white. Unarmed white kid killed by a black man who stalked and harassed him?
he had a dream that his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
In that case, they've been judged a bunch of selfish, greedy pricks.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
Prison and jail ethnic population statistics answer that question unceremoniously. You have a huge advantage and the benefit of the doubt in the legal system just by being white. I'll also mention for like billionth time: ZIMMERMAN ISNT OR WILL BE WHITE... fuck cnn.
People like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who are now seen as civil rights leaders, basically threw that out completely.and shit on it at almost every turn. Groups like the NAACP are pushing for criminal prosecution of, for example, the rodeo clown who made fun of Obama, even though people in much bigger areas of the limelight have done much worse things to make fun of other presidents. George Zimmerman would never have seen prosecution if he was black or Trayvon was white; guilty or not the evidence just wasn't there which is why they originally chose not to prosecute, and only did so after pressure from racial groups, which goes to show that in America, now the only requirement for prosecution is that public opinion be against you regardless of whether or not you can be proven guilty.
And how are programs like affirmative action following in that spirit? They tell you that, for example, if you have slanted eyes then you immediately deserve lower preference than anybody, but if you have black skin then you automatically get to be first in line.
What a joke the civil rights movement has become.
Nice spin. Great the way you worked your agenda in there, in the guise of "well if this is true, then the rest of what I have to say must be true to." Considering that King was reviled by a large hunk of America, and still is (see "Robert E. Lee Day), I guess the current civil rights leaders must be doing a decent job. From where I'm standing, Zimmerman was about a crazy vigilante who got off because his victim was black and the trial was in Florida. Quite different from your perspective.
The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
The way to eliminate racism is not by perpetuating it.
In the 1700's and 1800's we had a concept called fighting words. If somebody used "fighting words" (words that provoked a fight) then that person was responsible for whatever happened afterwards.
That concept sort of fell apart when it became questionable what constituted fighting words, and what constituted provocation. So, the new standard became whoever made the first physical assault was then responsible. Both the physical evidence and witness testimony showed that it was indeed Trayvon who not only initiated physical contact, but also caused physical injuries and was seen straddling Zimmerman. That is why Zimmerman was found not guilty, and it is also why they chose not to prosecute him in the beginning. It was only after public pressure, and public pressure alone, not evidence or anything else, which is why this went to trial. Also contrary to popular opinion, "stand your ground" was never used as a defense in this case.
The detectives themselves who investigated the case didn't even want to prosecute it, by the way, because they believed Zimmerman to be innocent. One of the things that convince me personally that Zimmerman is telling the truth is that one of the detectives told Zimmerman that they had the incident on camera, to which Zimmerman replied "thank god" without even thinking about it.
Besides, if we stuck to "being followed" as a justification for turning around and pummeling somebody's head against concrete, I'd sure hate to be a mall cop.
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Considering that King was reviled by a large hunk of America, and still is (see "Robert E. Lee Day)
Great. Now I have an image of Dr. King astride a warhorse, leading his sword at full gallop, and charging Confederate positions alongside Sherman in Atlanta.
What the hell, dude?
Let's get a couple of things straight here...
Point The First: Historical celebrations of events long passed does not automatically denote an adherence to the babblings of some backwoods sheet-donning inbred.
Point The Second: while racism is certainly not dead yet, I can tell you for damned certain that it's currently suffering from a fatal case of terminal neglect. Clue: *ACTUAL* racism has faded so badly that certain ideologues have to invent new meanings of the word (e.g. "I disagree with Obama" == "racist" in some quarters), just to keep the outrage flowing and (more importantly) the campaign coffers full.
Point The Third: Jesse Jackson and his ilk have been waving Dr. King's bloody shirt for decades now, shaking down individuals and corporations alike for agreement, compliance, and (again, more importantly) money. They have contributed absolutely nothing towards the elimination of racial hatred, and I daresay they have incited more than a little.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Sorry but the law says I'm allowed to follow anybody I want down the street, that isn't a crime, you also have somebody in a black hoodie in 84 degree weather at night in a neighborhood that has been robbed repeatedly, that gave Zimmerman every right to wonder if it was another robbery. You have the GF saying on the stand that Martin called Zimmerman a cracker and she encouraged Martin to jump him, you had multiple witnesses that said Martin was pounding Zimmerman's head into the pavement and during the entire fight Zimmerman was totally defensive, never once getting the upper hand, finally you have Martin's own words on FB talking about how he was gonna score a gat, "be gangsta" and laughing about how much fun he had bashing a bus driver's head in for looking at him wrong.
Given THAT much evidence I don't see how anybody can argue anything but the ONLY reason Zimmerman was prosecuted was because of black activists playing the victim card, right down to constantly showing and selling photoshopped t-shirts of Martin at 11 years old in a hoodie when in reality he was 6 foot 2, had multiple tats, and could bench press over 200 pounds. i'm sorry but I don't care if the guy was green I would have likewise followed anybody acting like that and you can be damned sure I'd defend myself if they jumped me.
As for MLK I have NO doubt that if he were to comeback tomorrow he would treat the so called "black leaders" as Jesus did the moneylenders at the temple and would be disgusted with the rise of the welfare state, black fathers not stepping up and raising their kids, the idolizing of thugs and gangbangers and demonizing of education, and the blaming all problems of white people. The goal of MLK was to give everyone a chance to be the best they could be regardless of the color of their skin, not to turn being black into a permanent handicap.
Kinda sad when you can take a black guy straight off the boat from Africa and he has something like 40 TIMES more likelihood of becoming middle class in a single generation than a black man born here. To me that says all that needs to be said, its not the color of their skin, its the demonizing of education and the victim mentality that is holding back black folks in America now.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
And funny...you don't see Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson raising a ruckus over the recent killing of a white man from Australia, by some black kids...shooting him in the back with no interaction at all. One of the black kids, has posts out that are extremely racist.
But then again..that won't put money in Al or Jesse's pocket.
The civil rights "movement" has become the civil rights "industry" where there is money to be made by black "leaders" race baiting blacks against whites.
Hell, if MLK's dream came true...they'd be out of a fucking job.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........