Martin Luther King Jr's family are said to milked his legacy.His 3 children Martin 57, Dexter 54 and Bernice 51 are fighting over his Nobel Peace Price and his bible and they have tried to sue his closest friend.
They even demanded money from a foundation that wanted to build a stature of their father in Washington DC to mark King's 50th anniversary of his speech, I have a dream, the foundation ended up to pay a very huge sum of money to use his image and speech.
A US not for profit broadcaster PBS documentary on the civil rights movement was delayed untill they coughed out a huge sum of money to the family.
CBS made a huge donation to the family's non profit king center to settle a lawsuit after broadcasting portions of the I have a dream speech.
Companies are allowed to use their father's image and words as long as they pay hansomely.His children agreed with EMI publishing, now run by Sony, to sell the use of his speeches and image ,and chase down any one who violates their copyrights in 2009.
Apple,Mercedes Benz and Chevrolet has paid to have his words in their adverts.
Alcatel French telecommunications giant refused to reveal how much they paid to use King's footage in their commercial.
They sold his private papers including a draft of his Noble Prize acceptance speech to Morehouse College in Atlanta where he studied.
Dexter 54 launched a lawsuit against his siblings, Martin 57 and Bernice 51 trying to force Bernice to hand over intimate letters fr
om their late mother Coretta to his father because of a book deal with Penguin, to publish her biography, though it was settled out of court in 2009.The 2 brothers are now starting a legal battle with Bernice for the possession of King's Noble Peace Prize and bible.The bible which Barrack Obama used to take his oath for his second term ,has a very huge monetary value.
