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Also still under copyright: "I Have a Dream" until 2038[1]. This is particularly frustrating because the copyright holders include the estate of the person who

Also still under copyright: "I Have a Dream" until 2038[1]. This is particularly frustrating because the copyright holders include the estate of the person who delivered the speech, but not the estate of the two other people who wrote it (and likely most of it) - not to mention the fact that, by any web-era definition, it was a public performance and also a 'general publication'. "Happy Birthday" (certainly in the EU until 2016, and potentially in the US too until 2030 though this is disputed[2]). There is also one movie - whose name escapes me now - which entered the public domain and was then put back under copyright protection subsequently. In the case of "I Have a Dream", think of the societal cost of raising two generations of students without a complete copy of the speech in their textbooks (as is generally the case). Alternatively, think of how a 2012 version of "I Have a Dream" would happen today. If hundreds of cell phone recordings of the speech were distributed halfway around the world within mere minutes after the speech, of what relevance would copyright protection be? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream#Copyright_dispute http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream#Copyright_disput... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You

jacquesm 14y ago
> There is also one movie - whose name escapes me now - which entered the public domain and was then put back under copyright protection subsequently. It looks like that got fixed: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/04/court-congress-cant-put-public-domain-back-into-copyright/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/04/court-congress-ca...
- jellicle 14y ago
  Nope. The Supreme Court unfixed it: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/supreme-court-gets-it-wrong-golan-v-holder-public-domain-mourns https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/supreme-court-gets-it-... Congress has the authority to take old works out of the public domain, permanently.
  - pbhjpbhj 14y ago
    Surely not "permanently" as that would violate the "limited time" clause for copyright enshrined in the US constitution ...
dfc 14y ago
"In the case of "I Have a Dream", think of the societal cost of raising two generations of students without a complete copy of the speech in their textbooks (as is generally the case)." While I completely agree that it is a shame that Dr. King's speeches are protected by copyright I really do not think that there is a great societal cost due to textbooks without a verbatim transcript. With the exception of the Gettysburg Address I can not think of any speeches that should be included verbatim in a high school social studies textbook. Textbooks have a lot of material to cover and summarize.
- indiecore 14y ago
  Not an American but why should the Gettysburg Address be in full while other ones aren't?
  - antoko 14y ago
    I'd assume it is because it is so short rather than because it is any more significant than other historical works. 268 words total. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Volpe 14y ago
Countries that have a copyright collection agency (Like Australia). Needn't worry about these things, and can include full transcripts of copyrighted material in education material. America's "Fair Use" (defence) is not the only model in which copyright is managed and upheld.
wissler 14y ago
Is this not a full copy of MLK's speech?: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-speech-text_n_809993.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-spee...
- seppo0010 14y ago
  Wondering how legal that is, since the video the same site posted is now removed from youtube due to copyright reasons http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/mlk-jr-i-have-a-dream-speech_n_809379.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/mlk-jr-i-have-a-dre...
  - wissler 14y ago
    Good point. For all practical purposes, for now, one can get the text of his speech. But it's probably not legal.

jacquesm 14y ago

> There is also one movie - whose name escapes me now - which entered the public domain and was then put back under copyright protection subsequently. It looks like that got fixed: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/04/court-congress-cant-put-public-domain-back-into-copyright/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/04/court-congress-ca...

jellicle 14y ago
Nope. The Supreme Court unfixed it: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/supreme-court-gets-it-wrong-golan-v-holder-public-domain-mourns https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/supreme-court-gets-it-... Congress has the authority to take old works out of the public domain, permanently.
- pbhjpbhj 14y ago
  Surely not "permanently" as that would violate the "limited time" clause for copyright enshrined in the US constitution ...

dfc 14y ago

"In the case of "I Have a Dream", think of the societal cost of raising two generations of students without a complete copy of the speech in their textbooks (as is generally the case)." While I completely agree that it is a shame that Dr. King's speeches are protected by copyright I really do not think that there is a great societal cost due to textbooks without a verbatim transcript. With the exception of the Gettysburg Address I can not think of any speeches that should be included verbatim in a high school social studies textbook. Textbooks have a lot of material to cover and summarize.

indiecore 14y ago
Not an American but why should the Gettysburg Address be in full while other ones aren't?
- antoko 14y ago
  I'd assume it is because it is so short rather than because it is any more significant than other historical works. 268 words total. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Volpe 14y ago

Countries that have a copyright collection agency (Like Australia). Needn't worry about these things, and can include full transcripts of copyrighted material in education material. America's "Fair Use" (defence) is not the only model in which copyright is managed and upheld.

wissler 14y ago

Is this not a full copy of MLK's speech?: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-speech-text_n_809993.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-spee...

seppo0010 14y ago
Wondering how legal that is, since the video the same site posted is now removed from youtube due to copyright reasons http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/mlk-jr-i-have-a-dream-speech_n_809379.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/mlk-jr-i-have-a-dre...
- wissler 14y ago
  Good point. For all practical purposes, for now, one can get the text of his speech. But it's probably not legal.