King Kids: Fighting to Get Paid By Memorial Project

They’re at it again—the children of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King are asking those in charge of building a monument in their father’s honor on the National Mall for $800,000 for the use of his words and image, according to the Associated Press. The memorial includes a 28-foot sculpture in Dr. King’s likeness paid for by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation which in turn has been paying the King family for the use of his words and image for fundraising purposes. The Foundation says they were never asked to pay for the same use in the monument. Under the Intellectual Properties Management, Inc. (which the family established n 2003) the King children insist that the fee goes directly to the King Center in Atlanta and is necessary because many people believe their donations for the memorial are going directly there anyway. The Foundation has raised $04 million of the $120 million it costs to build the monument.—WLW