Judge Restrains Video of Jackson Speech

Yes, Home Tech announced a week ago that there would be a videocassette release of Jesse Jackson’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. But just after press time, Jackson’s law firm obtained a temporary restraining order on the tape from a federal judge in Chicago.

Jackson has a copyright on the speech, noted Henry Mason, an attorney with the Chicago firm of Sidley and Austin, and “Mr. Jackson believes that this video product infringes on that copyright,” as well as on the fair use of the politician, who failed in his attempt to win a place on the Democratic ticket for 1988 but gave the show-stopping speech at the party’s Atlanta gathering.

MPI Video had hoped to rush-release “Jesse Jackson: We Can Dream Again” last week, a 60-minute tape with a $14.95 retail price. MPI has put out “news event” videos in the past, most notably a tape of Oliver North’s congressional testimony last year. But the company had not been hit with a restraining order on those tapes or any other product, according to president Waleed Ali, who said he was surprised at the action.

“I had no idea this would be the case to be contested,” Ali said. “I didn’t think he (Jackson) would be upset at all. This was nothing but the speech, and, in a way, it was a tribute--though really we didn’t mean it as either a tribute or as something to downgrade Jesse Jackson. It was simply a news event.

“We didn’t ask Mr. Jackson’s permission to put out his speech, but then the networks didn’t ask his permission either. Apparently, there’s a prejudice against the home-video medium.”

The restraining order is in effect until Thursday midnight, according to Mason, and after that the judge will complete the hearing--though Thomas had no idea how long that might take. Meanwhile, Ali feels that MPI will probably suffer a loss of revenue even if the tape is released soon after. A sale of 30,000-40,000 units was expected initially. Now, Ali says, the total is more likely to be closer to 10,000.

MPI obtained the tape through licensing with the Sherman Grinberg Film Library, Ali said, adding that that library regularly handles ABC News footage. He also said the rights to the photo on the video package were obtained from the Wide World agency. The essential issue, he agreed, is over the actual speech that, said the MPI chief, “Jackson claims to have a copyright for.”

“I believe that the judge is faced with a decision that cannot be taken lightly,” asserted Ali. “This case involves a number of important issues that have never been raised before. But essentially it boils down to whether a videocassette can disseminate news with the same rights that the networks have.”