Disney Wants Local School To Pay To Show “The Lion King” At Pta Fundraiser - Inside the Magic

Comments for Disney Wants Local School To Pay To Show “The Lion King” At Pta Fundraiser

The Lion King School PTA Fundraiser Copyright

Credit: Disney

30 Comments

  1. Steven Schuyler

    Schools should be exempt…… period! This is just one example of corporate greed that they would have the audacity to hassle a school, ANY school, over showing a film!! SHAMEFUL !!

    1. Erik

      I agree schools should be exempt to show it, but to show it as a fund raiser as the article suggest seems like a different story. I don’t think anyone should be able to make money off of someone else’s work for free

  2. Delia

    They have a legal right to do it; however, just because you have a right to do something, doesn’t mean it’s right to do it. Disney does not need 250.00 that bad.

  3. Child Yoda

    *tiny violin* and I’m playing a tune that is causing no infringement. Laws are in place. If you have a problem with those laws then work to change them! In the meantime people can’t just choose to break laws so the PTA can raise some money for the dance team or whatever. 25k other schools figured out a way to make it work, including my local HS.

    1. C.

      Disney should follow a very popular catchphrase from one of its movies and “Let it go”. It’s for school, and nobody is getting rich or stealing the movie.

      1. Patrick Irwin

        If I was any part of school administration, there would be an absolute BAN on all Disney product within school grounds: clothing, backpacks, music/videos. Inform every newcoming parent prior to admission, and serve notice to those RAT bastards screaming for their measly $250 to pound sand.

    2. Steven Jon Schuyler

      Hey, Child Yoda! Did you see what JD wrote on FEB 4th ?
      JD Wrote:

      Excuse me Child Yoda but we will either need to see *your* license or you’ll need to remove your comment immediately. The Yoda name and all variations are property of Disney and not for public use thank you!

      So, Child Yoda! Fork over your $250 or take down your comment! NOW!

  4. MICHAEL JOHN CORRAL

    Disney is within their rights to charge the school. You want to dance you got to pay the band
    .

  5. vickie chandler

    It says right on the home version of the movie ….
    not for public showing with out permission ( paraphrasing) … you cant tell me every single person in that school had never seen that on a video or DVD before . …the studios tend to overlook the ones shown for free but if there is an admission, they will crack down . If the PTA was smart they would have promoted it as free showing and refreshments for sale . ( up the cost of food to make up difffemce )

  6. Ally

    The bigger issue here is a school in CA has been showing movies for likely several years with the license that we ALL know about as educators. The licensing company sends a letter to every school in the country every year. I’m calling their bluff. We have a rule in our school that all movies must be associated with the curriculum and need to be pre approved unless we have purchased the license, which, SHOCKING, is usually purchased to show movies to raise money for something extra outside of the budget.

  7. Jason

    Disney may not need THAT 250.00 but when 25,000 schools get wind that they broke rules for them then that causes a lot of chaos. Just like everything else that has a rule that’s broke for one or two people. I was a little irked at first but then thought about it more.

  8. Nancy Buckner

    From what I read $15 was a suggested donation, it was not required. Also, so what if more schools did this as a fundraiser. Schools are in dire need of funding. Disney makes billions! I hope Disney steps up somehow. Makes me think that much less of Disney.

  9. Christopher M Fogg

    The basic legal position that Disney is in, here: the way copyright and trademark work, at least in the US, basically creates a situation where companies like Disney MUST aggressively enforce their ownership of a property. Failing to do so, in a “worst case scenario”, creates a precedent that could be used to argue that they’ve abandoned their legitimate claim to the property, at which point that property effectively enters the Public Domain. It doesn’t make much logical sense, and it isn’t enforced consistently. This scenario is precisely why there is such a lucrative market in “patent trolling”.

    1. Erik

      The way copyright exists in the US is mostly due to Disney’s aggressive lobbying iirc

  10. Teacher

    At the school I work at our librarian has sent out several emails over the past few years about this very law and Disney is well within their right. Do they go after every teacher or school that shows a movie, no. But if you are advertising it as a fundraiser and profiting off of the movie without paying the appropriate fee, then yes they will probably come after you.

  11. Nate C

    Disney doesn’t have a choice. If they don’t enforce their copy right to a movie (or any of their properties), then the movie becomes public domain. That means anyone, not just this school, can sell the movie without having to pay Disney anything. No one in their right mind would agree to such a thing. So, if you’re mad, you have a problem with the law, not with Disney.

    1. Erik

      To be fair Disney actually has a LOT to do with the current copyright system

      1. Garrett

        To be fair you don’t know what your talking about. Copyright legal definition hasnt changed. Like. Ever.

  12. JD

    Excuse me Child Yoda but we will either need to see *your* license or youll need to remove your comment immediately. The Yoda name and all variations are property of Disney and not for public use thank you.

    1. Robert L Hynes

      Well it’s kind of like you speeding. Sure, most people do it and don’t get hurt but that still doesn’t mean a cop can’t catch you and give a ticket. It sucks, but you got caught.

  13. I have been a part of many PTA”s being a military family. This is very common and well known fact regarding almost any movie allowed to be played in schools. You need to pay to have the license to in order to play the movie no matter what the event in the school. So this is not a surprise at all. Pretty much common knowledge when involved in the schools.

    1. LizS

      It’s not common knowledge cause this is the 1st time I have ever heard of this and I also have been part of many different PTA/PTOs. It’s a school, not a movie theater. Even if it’s for a fundraiser, they wouldn’t make nearly a smidgen of what Disney rakes in. They take this stuff to far but God forbid they pawn off someone else’s work as their own. It happens more than we know cause they have the money to pay people off!

  14. JustAl

    As an educator who deals with copyrighted material on a daily basis, I am very aware how costly and troublesome following copyright law can be. But as a creative and friend to many other creatives , the copyright law is important to artists to get paid for their work. People will literally steal our work without paying for it. Whoever owns some intellectual property like a song, painting, or movie has completely every right to ask to be compensated for their time and trouble creating that work. Disney absolutely did the correct thing and the school shouldn’t be allowed to steal someone else’s property for their own profit.

  15. M

    My sons school payed the 250. I think its good for a few years. I personally think you should just have to write to disney and tell thrm what movies your going to show and they give you permission to show their movies for x number of years. Since they basically own the world ( or in some cases whole universes )they should give schools a break.

  16. TL

    Only an American would defend a mega billion dollar corporation over a bunch of ten year olds. USA! USA!

  17. Steven Jon Schuyler

    What I really want to know is who is the dweeb Head (I’m being polite because this is a public forum) who let Movie Licensing know about the showing in the first place? Was it some jerk who has a grudge against the PTA, or, was it some copyright cop who attended the event? And, if it was some individual person, show yourself! If you think what you did was so righteous, then don’t have a problem letting us know who you are!

    And, to the person who said that it says it on the box “Not for public showing”, you might be right, but, it is in the tiny print that can be easily missed by anyone who is not specifically looking for it!

    I did write Mr. Iger, CEO of Disney about this and asked him, “What would Walt say about all of this if he were alive” ?
    I further said, “Shouldn’t education always come before persecution” ? Why couldn’t that Movie Licensing USA simply contacted the school and educated them on what they need to do in the future so they would know.

    I also said, in this case, they are not playing the movie over and over again for educational purposes. It was to entertain the kids ONCE, which will no doubt never happen again. I also urge the entire Berkeley School District to BAN use of any educational materials with copyrights owned by Disney!

    1. Tara

      It may have been innocently posted online as a fundraiser, and they were searching for people who have violated copyright. There are people whose jobs it is to actively go after those who have broken copyright laws. It happens to musicians, as well, playing in small venues such as a hometown restaurant.

  18. Joseph Cannavo

    When will people who love Disney to death ever get it. They are the greediest worst bunch of corporate bastards on the face of the earth. They deserve to be boycotted and suffer a horrendous bankruptcy. If that would happen their employees might be treated fairer by their local unemployement board than the Disney company treats them. DWD. Down with Disney. Imagine needing $250.00 from a school raising money to help give children a better education!

    1. Faithful Friend

      Exactly!

  19. Steven Jon Schuyler

    Hey, Everyone!

    Great news! I wrote to Mr. Robert Iger, CEO of Disney as many other people did and he wrote me back. Here is what he had to say:

    FEB 13, 2020 5:31 PM

    Mr. Schuyler,

    I received numerous emails on this subject and could not respond to them all. The situation has been remedied and I personally donated to the PTA of that school. Our company is reviewing its policy on this, but we expect to continue to protect our intellectual property.

    Sincerely,

    Bob Iger

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