Docu exex sue estate of MLK

By DANIEL M. KIMMEL

Blackside Inc., the producers of the critically acclaimed "Eyes on the Prize" docu series about the civil rights movement, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston against the estate of Martin Luther King Jr.

The company is seeking a judgment that it has the right to use excerpts from the filmed speeches of King in the series, and be allowed to distribute it.

The original six-part series ran in 1987 on PBS and was followed by a second eight-part series in '90. The original series was released on homevideo in October through Pacific Arts; part two is set for April.

Last year, lawyers for King's estate and for his widow, Coretta Scott King, notified the Boston-based producers, as well as the Corp. for Public Broadcasting and Pacific Arts, that further distribution of the shows in schools or on homevideo infringed on copyrighted material. Blackside is alleging that this has had a"chilling effect" on further sales of the series. Blackside is asking for a judgment in which the court would rule that no copyright infringement exists.