King family seeks to cash in on MLK-Obama items (AP)

[sampsonblk]

Nov 13, 3:25 PM (ET)

By ERRIN HAINES

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...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081113/D94E8SC81.html


I dunno about the rest of you, but I find this very distasteful.

[YOY]

1. I think there is a crapload of pirated and unauthorized stuff out there.

Good luck to them.

They are looking for money for the King Foundation...not for themselves or so I hope.

I can understand it if it is the former.

[VeraAgnes]

2. Makes sense to me......

Apparently, someone is using MLK for the powerful association and is getting traction/attention and money from the action.........MLK Fund is completely entitle.

[undeterred]

3. "but we cannot allow our brand to be abused."

We have reached a sad day when everything is conceived of in terms of a "brand".

[malaise]

7. My thoughts exactly

What a disgusting comment. :puke:

[sampsonblk]

9. That's the part that bothered me too

Just the thought that Dr King's legacy is nothing more than a "brand" to him.

[NashVegas]

34. Okay. Think of It As "Image"

No one made King / Obama shirts out of the kindness of their hearts. They made them to exploit King's and Obama's images, either for profit or for political purposes. If that statement is false, every one of those items would have been given away or sold at cost.

This one starts at $19 a pop:

http://www.zazzle.com/obama_t_shirt_by_gimme-235190867554476483

Ever look at a wholesale merchandiser's pricing list for getting a job like that done?

Qty: ----------24 -- 48 ---96 --- 144 --- 288 -- 576 --- 1,152
Price (each): 6.24- 5.44 - 5.24 - 4.74 - 4.64 -- 4.44 -- 4.34

Bit of a mark-up, don't you think?

[shadowknows69]

11. Yeah, that leaves a real bad taste in my mouth too

I mean if we want to nitpick about copyright laws here, and I'm not up to date on the laws I admit, but if you used a photo of King as your template technically wouldn't you owe the copyright owner of that photo and not the King family per se? I don't think you can "brand" the image of a former/deceased public figure. There is too much media out there that could be considered to be in the public domain.

[BR_Parkway]

19. Exactly, the man didn't go get himself killed for everyone else's right

to buy shit with his "brand" on it.

[undeterred]

21. and one would hope his children would be the first to recognize that

:shrug:

[mondo joe]

27. I can only hold so much against them. Their family sacrificed so much, and had so much

stolen from them.

If someone is going to make money off the image of their father, I suppose better them than anyone else.

My problem is that they seem to care only about the money making, and have turned their backs on the cause of civil rights.

[Deja Q]

39. "brand" or "product"; as soulless as soap.

:shrug:

[mondo joe]

4. They would have been better stewards of the MLK brand by championing equality for gays,

the civil rights issue of the day.

[sampsonblk]

6. Do you think Dr King would have approved of that? (nt)

[mondo joe]

13. I know Coretta Scott King recognized that gay civil rights are civil rights.

A Collection of Coretta Scott King Quotes regarding GLBT Rights

Source: Reuters, March 31, 1998.
Coretta Scott King, speaking four days before the 30th anniversary of her husband's assassination, said Tuesday the civil rights leader's memory demanded a strong stand for gay and lesbian rights.

"I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice," she said. "But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'" "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people," she said.


Source: Chicago Defender, April 1, 1998, front page.
Speaking before nearly 600 people at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel,
Coretta Scott King, the wife of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Tuesday called on the civil rights community to join in the struggle against homophobia and anti-gay bias. "Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood," King stated. "This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group."


Source: Chicago Sun Times, April 1, 1998, p.18.
"We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be," she said, quoting her husband. "I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy," King told 600 people at the Palmer House Hilton, days before the 30th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on April 4, 1968. She said the civil rights movement "thrives on unity and inclusion, not division and exclusion." Her husband's struggle parallels that of the gay rights movement, she said.


Source: Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1998, sec.2, p.4.
"For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people," King said at the 25th Anniversary Luncheon for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.... "Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement," she said. "Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions." - Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1998, sec.2, p.4.


Source: Coretta Scott King, remarks, Opening Plenary Session, 13th annual Creating Change conference of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Atlanta, Georgia, November 9, 2000.
"We have a lot more work to do in our common struggle against bigotry and discrimination. I say 'common struggle' because I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry and discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination."


Source: Reuters, June 8, 2001.
"We have to launch a national campaign against homophobia in the black community," said Coretta Scott King, widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights leader.

[sampsonblk]

15. She is no Dr King. Do you think Dr King would have approved? (nt)

[mondo joe]

16. You want speculation.

Fine: Yes, Dr. King would have approved of the pursuit of equal marriage rights for gays.

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. But one of MLK's daughters disagrees

"Because he was 100 percent family. He knew that family was the thing that makes this country a great country," says Battle. "And then because of slavery, we as black folks were separated so much on purpose to keep us from growing into a family."

Battle also says King's theology would have prevented him from endorsing gay marriage. He says King believed in a Bible that stated God's opposition to homosexuality, and that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. A recent Pew Research poll found that 67 percent of black Protestants oppose gay marriage on religious grounds.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/01/17_williamsb_wwmlkd/

[RubyDuby in GA]

25. Well to drag his name further into the mud

If he was so vehemently family-oriented, he shouldn't have had so many girlfriends in addition to his own family.

His daughter is one of the worst of the brand promoters.

[sampsonblk]

28. There are plenty of problems to speak of

If find that when I bring them up, folks get very upset.

But there are plenty of issues to talk about with Dr King and now with his family.

[mondo joe]

26. I'm thinking Coretta Scott King was more aligned with her husband than

their daughter is.

You choose your partner - not your parents.

[marshall]

30. Coretta King's attitudes evolved, MLK didn't get that chance

MLK's opinions are forever frozen in the 60s. A lot has changed since them in regards to attitudes toward homoseuxality, and Coretta Scott King no doubt changed with the times.

One would like to hope MLK would also be a supporter of gay rights today--but then one would have also hoped President Obama would be a stronger supporter by speaking out for marriage equality.

[Bluenorthwest]

29. OK. I'm gunna go there

MLK would have supported GLBT rights at this time, without a doubt. And the reason I say that is in fact also the reason for the hostility toward gay people by the 'protect the brand' part of the family. The homophobia directly protects the purity of the 'brand' by building a wall around the memory of Bayard Rustin, a gay man who was a close allie and mentor of Dr King's, the man who intorduced him to passive resistance, a primary organizer of the March on Washington. Those who think of civil rights as a 'brand' that should pay them money do not wish to see anything, including fact, dilute the current highly surface image most Americans hold of King and the history of the movement. As it is, King is a couple of sound bites and a photo or two, as if the great crowds and marchs happened by magic, not by organizing and brilliant planning. As if it could not happen again without Martin. And that state of things serves the 'brand owners' well. The homophobic stance of some of the family is not by accident, it is for profit. It is part of a business plan. Remember: Martin acted alone, the rest of the movement and the thousands who suffered are not worthy of rememberance, as there is nowhere to send the Tee Shrit money, so focus on Martin, in one or two poses (the ones that are family owned), saying one or two things, and call that history.

So I say this is a self protectionist line of dribble, said for the sake of money. It does not line up with the life of Dr King. And frankly, Coretta was the man's wife. Bernice is just riding the gravy train and protecting the bottom line. Battle made some of his statments at an event sponsored by conservative Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater. Yeah, that Michele Bachmann. I wonder if anyone would claim that Dr King would have been standing with Michele Bachmann? I wonder what it says about Battle that he is?

[Kajsa]

18. Here's what Coretta King said on the subject.

from this article,

http://www.operationrebirth.com/archive/dlfoster.html

"I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice," she said. "But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'" "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people," she said. - Reuters, March 31, 1998.

Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood," King stated. "This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group." - Chicago Defender, April 1, 1998, front page.

Mrs. King said, days before the 30th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on April 4, 1968, "the civil rights movement thrives on unity and inclusion, not division and exclusion." - Chicago Sun Times, April 1, 1998, p.18.

"For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people…Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement," she said. "Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions." - Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1998, sec.2, p.4.

[Omaha Steve]

5. Babe Ruth's family and many more do this

Current celebrities are getting it in the contracts. I know I bought an Obama 08 shirt at the Ne. Democrat Convention that didn't earn Obama a dime. Our family spent $50 at a Kerry Rally in Iowa just before the 04 convention that weren't licensed either.

I don't blame the King family one bit.

[sampsonblk]

10. Do you think Dr King would have approved of that?

I understand the rules and all. But somehow I just don't think Dr King wanted his legacy to involve any of this. Just my opinion.

[Omaha Steve]

38. Licensed MLK items raise funds for future MLK center in D.C.

http://www.mlkmemorial.org/






http://www.afscme.org/about/mlk-memorial.cfm


http://www.afscmestore.org/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=22




https://unionshop.aflcio.org/Martin_Luther_King_Jr_quote_p_P1330C49.cfm

[RubyDuby in GA]

8. No you are not alone in finding this distasteful.

The disgraceful manner in which some of his family attempts to profit on his name is beyond the pale. It's a pity really that it has become all about the "brand" instead of actually what MLK, Jr. used to preach.

But then again, when you have his own daughter leading marches against gay people, I'm pretty sure that the concept of "civil rights" would be lost on the rest of that wing of the family.

I do not have a very high opinion of that faction of the family that only seeks to make money off his memory.

[helderheid]

12. Brand?

[greguganus]

14. So from now on, any picture of MLK should have a T.M. or ® n/t

[sampsonblk]

17. I can see them not wanting his name to be abused

But I can't see them fighting for nickels and dimes

[Waiting For Everyman]

20. I think all property rights in general have gone WAAAAAAAYYY too far.

King is a historical public figure, much longer than 20 years ago, which used to be the length of copyright. The whole subject has been abused, and become abusive.

I could see holding onto rights to his speeches which are published, but this is ridiculous. So is all of it.

[lies and propaganda]

23. next they will be robocalling for McCain..

Oh wait...

[Fireweed247]

24. MLK is an American Prophet- not a profit

Martin Luther King Jr belongs to all of US, I cannot believe his nephew would call him a 'brand'. What an ass. I think MLK would be very embarrassed that he would say that during this time of celebration.

[kwassa]

31. How are they going to collect, and who from?

There is no way that they could police this, could they?

[sampsonblk]

32. Plenty of companies do this already - it can be done

My issue is that it seems so inappropriate for them to do it.

[Karenina]

37. Things that make ya go, HMMMM...

[DU GrovelBot]

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[brentspeak]

35. MLK Jr.™

[aikoaiko]

36. Gots to get paid.