EMI copyright deal to protect Martin Luther King speeches

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Managers of the civil rights leader's estate have asked EMI to track and charge when his words appear on websites such as YouTube. They have also asked the company to promote and sell the speeches, including his "I have a dream" address of 1963, more effectively on iTunes.

Dr King copyrighted several of his speeches before his death and his widow, Coretta, continued the process after his assassination in Memphis in 1968.

But since the election of President Obama, his estate is unhappy that a wave of unlicensed material and merchandise has been produced. Managers fear that if the copyright is not protected, it will be lost. Tens of millions of dollars are raised every year through the use of copyrighted material. The profits are used to fund the non-profit King Centre in Atlanta, which was established to educate the world about King's philosophies.

Extracts of "I have a dream" have been included in several songs, including Madagascar by rock band Guns '*' Roses. The speech can also be bought as a mobile phone ringtone.