CAMPAIGN ’88 : Jackson Calls Selling of His Speech ‘Piracy’
The Rev. Jesse Jackson called the marketing of a videotape of his speech to the Democratic National Convention “piracy,” and officials of his presidential campaign threatened to sue the distributor.
But a spokesman for MPI Home Video of Oak Forest, Ill., said the company will continue selling it.
“It’s selling like crazy. It should be available to everyone,” said Jaffer Ali, MPI’s vice president of marketing. He said Jackson’s speech is in the public domain.
The company has sold about 31,500 copies of the July 19 speech at $14.95 each, he said. Ali said the firm received ABC’s permission to use its footage on the tapes for an undisclosed fee, but permission was not sought from Jackson or any of his advisers.
Frank Watkins, Jackson’s national political director, said that the campaign is preparing to take the matter to court, and added: “The video belongs to the Jackson campaign or to Jesse personally.”
Jackson, in a Chicago television interview Tuesday night, called for a halt to the sales. He said: “It’s piracy and it’s unfair.”
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