When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “ I Have a Dream,” I’m pretty sure he wasn’t considering for one second the copyright implications. There will be many posts today celebrating his great achievements, but why not also talk about some copyright law. All his iconic speeches are still under copyright and not free for the public domain to access as yet. So the bigger question then, who owns the IP of social movements?
I probably spend too much time thinking about the legal side of history when it comes to too many things, especially IP law. I’ve noticed a battle that’s been brewing for years between protecting someone’s IP and making sure the public can learn and be inspired by their work. What’s even more complicated is when the work and that person happens to be a civil rights legend who reshaped history.
Things have gotten tricky in the digital age; Tik Tok, Instagram, X etc. can reach millions each day. The advent of these platforms have made it more difficult for the estates of these social movement pioneers to keep the messages authentic.
Add in AI to this and you get a barrage of deep fakes, voice cloning and you may see Dr. King giving a speech he never gave.
Here are a few ideas on how to keep Dr. King’s legacy (and others like his) safe from misappropriation while allowing people to learn and share his message freely for proper usage in our 24/7 digital world.
- Limited-Term Copyright for Social Impact Works – Possibly let crucial civil rights speeches and works enter the public domain faster (currently life span of the author + 70 years), while still protecting the financial interests of the estates.
- Open Licensing for Educational Use – Give teachers, historians and educational institutions the ability to teach the content without having to jump through hoops.
- Fair Use Expansion – Allow educators and activists to use more of the speeches and works and not have to worry about a copyright takedown for every little snippet posted.
- AI Ethical Guidelines – Create some concrete laws and ground rules so we are not facing a future where all our heroes and icons aren’t selling toothpaste or coffee mugs, unbeknownst to their estate.
As an IP Attorney, I admit I’m biased to keeping the law relevant and with the speed of social media and AI, we need to seriously consider how we protect important social messages. We need to try our best to keep history accurate. Should social movement speeches and texts remain locked behind copyright, or free for the public to share? And how does AI fit into this?