under current copyright law, Dr. King’s words are treated no differently than a Pitbull/Kesha song. I understand that the King family (who owns the copyrights to the speeches, as well as Dr. King’s life rights) only wants to protect their patriarch’s legacy. But I think Dr. King’s words are too historically significant to be treated like everything else. I argued back then that copyright law should be reformed to create special exemptions protecting works of historic importance.