EMI Strikes Deal With Dr. King’s Estate

EMI Music Publishing said that it had signed a deal with the estate of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to represent the civil rights leader’s intellectual property. In a news release, EMI, which handles publishing rights for musical artists like Beyoncé and Kanye West as well as songs like “Over the Rainbow” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” said it would represent the use of Dr. King’s words in recordings and music as well as his words and image in online and digital media. EMI said it would also work with Intellectual Properties Management, an Atlanta company that licenses Dr. King’s image, likeness and recorded voice for nonmusical works. In recent years samples of Dr. King’s speeches have turned up in songs like “Long Way to Go” by Gwen Stefani and “Madagascar” by Guns N’ Roses.