Dr. King’s Kids Troubled Over Not Profiting from MLK-Obama T-shirts, memorabilia
 Dexter, Rev. Bernice, and Martin Luther King III
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The children of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are filing a lawsuit over their parent’s estate – again. This time around, Martin and Coretta Scott King’s three surviving offspring are going after the makers of untold scores of MLK-Barack Obama T-shirts, buttons and other memorabilia that have been sold across the country. They are demanding financial redress for using MLK’s likeness without procuring the King estate’s advanced permission.
Isaac Newton Farris Jr., King’s nephew and the head of the nonprofit King Center in Atlanta, told reporters that the licensing fees for the memorabilia would entitle the King family to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps even millions, from those who have profited off the sale of King’s image. The great proliferation of MLK’s image would probably prove difficult to recoup any deserved dividends – even more so because the number of MLK-Obama paraphernalia increased exponentially as Barack Obama’s victory in the election appeared imminent.
“Some of this is probably putting food on people’s plates. We’re not trying to stop anybody from legitimately supporting themselves,” Farris told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “but we cannot allow our brand to be abused.”
King’s papers, speeches and voice are considered intellectual property. The use of them in any medium is subject to approval, and most likely a financial agreement, of the King estate which is administered by the survivors: Martin Luther King III, Dexter King and Rev. Bernice King. The sale of King’s speeches, postcards, calendars, mugs bearing his image currently nets the King children $800,000 a year.
“We realize the historic nature of events surrounding President-elect Obama, and we are seeking an elegant solution to address the commercial use of Dr. King’s image in connection with our newly elected president,” Dexter King said in a statement.
This marks the second time this year the King children have been embroiled in a legal and financial quagmire regarding their parents’ lucrative estate. Back in the spring, MLK III and Bernice King filed suit against Malibu, Calif.-based Dexter King, accusing Dexter of misappropriating large sums of money from the estate for personal benefit. –terry shropshire
