Martin Luther King estate signs on with music publisher EMI

The estate of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has worked out a deal with EMI Music Publishing to bring the words of the civil rights icon to a wider audience.

It marks the first time EMI has take on the licensing of a non-music based work.

Dexter King, chairman and chief executive of the King estate, said EMI was chosen as the best company to help "increase the King estate's ability to preserve, perpetuate and protect the great legacy of Martin Luther King Jr."

This means the publisher will work with Atlanta-based Intellectual Properties Management — the company that administers the King estate and the licensing — to encourage the use of King's words in song.

EMI will also have the responsibility of policing the use of King's name, image, likeness and recorded voice in all digital media, recordings and music.

"Assuring that Dr. King's words are accorded the same protection and same right for compensation as other copyrights works is a profound responsibility, and we are proud of the confidence that the estate has placed in us to fulfill that responsibility," EMI chief executive Roger Faxon said in a statement Tuesday.

The EMI deal marks the latest move in a long-running battle between Dexter King and his siblings, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King.

Martin Luther King III says neither he nor his sister have information about the new agreement.

The siblings have been in court over three lawsuits in connection with the estates of their parents, Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King.