6. Selma Is Disallowed From Quoting Martin Luther King's Copyrighted Speeches
Ava DuVernay's massively-acclaimed Oscar hopeful Selma covers a pivotal period of Martin Luther King's (David Oyelowo) life in immaculate, deeply affecting detail, though she and screenwriter Paul Webb faced a massive hurdle when trying to get the film made. The "rights" to King's iconic speeches had already been sold to Steven Spielberg for an unspecified project, and so they were not allowed to use the man's precise words, but had to essentially paraphrase his speeches while attempting to capture the spirit of what the man said. It's truly impressive that the final movie doesn't make this apparent at all, with King's various speech scenes totally capturing the vibe of the moment and slotting in perfectly with some of his real speeches. On the other hand, though, doesn't it seem disgusting that words as inspiring and important as those of Dr. King aren't in the public domain, but can somehow be commoditised and sold off to the highest bidder by his estate? Surely if King were here today, he'd disapprove of such craven money-grabbing by his family.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
