the real king crime – just plain sad.
And rather than donate King’s personal papers to the Library of Congress, the family has tried to sell them for $20 million – even while excluding the most important historical documents and still trying to retain control of the copyright, generating even more lucrative royalties and control over access. It also cut a multimillion-dollar deal with AOL-Time Warner, giving the media giant exclusive commercial use of King’s speeches.
Ironically, as Pulitzer Prize-winning King biographer David Garrow told the Chicago Tribune, the family crackdown “started out 10 years ago as a quite understandable and correct effort to ensure that Dr. King’s image wasn’t turning up in tacky situation.” Such as, say, commercials for tech companies.
But, added Garrow, “It is getting to the point where they are so focused on maximizing their income that they’re actively reducing the amount of distribution King’s words and teachings will have.”