That was until Emerson Elementary School received an email from a licensing company Thursday -- more than two months after the event -- saying they had to pay $250 for illegally screening the movie.
Wednesday, February 05, 2020
A school played 'The Lion King' at a fundraising event. Now it has to pay a third of what it raised
That was until Emerson Elementary School received an email from a licensing company Thursday -- more than two months after the event -- saying they had to pay $250 for illegally screening the movie.
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8 comments:
This was weird. I don’t know how I feel about it. Everyone knows how notorious Disney is about copyright/fines (and also Nintendo, for that matter). This is a very frustrating situation, but I definitely do see how the school broke copyright laws. I remember learning in middle school that a big violation is if people can watch or buy another version as a replacement of the original. I mean, screening the literal movie does directly do that. Instead of all those people going out and buying it themselves, one parent bought it for maybe $20 and showed it to everyone at a public event. So this definitely makes sense to me when it comes to the law.
However, for heaven’s sake, Disney is a HUGE freaking company with a RIDICULOUS amount of money. Who cares?? These are elementary school students. Is Disney seriously so cruel that they’ll go after a fundraising event for children’s education? This is also a big problem in theatre/sound that I always seem to face. Can I play this song during pre-show or is that a copyright violation? Can I take a chunk of this song/sound or is that problematic? I’ve learned to be really careful and always ask someone about that stuff. I think it’s weird that none of those parents objected to the screening for that reason.
Copyright laws are always confusing and highly controversial for both parties involved. I understand where Disney is coming from, as protecting their property and intellectual rights is very important to them and their brand. However, I also understand the PTA as well. For a school that is mainly low-income families, paying a $250 fine for screening a movie for families is hard to swallow. Yet, I cannot understand why the PTA thought that their situation was any different from any other elementary school that does parent nights out with movies. My elementary school did it all the time. They would always coordinate with the studio who had the rights to the movie before screening the movie. $250 is not a lot of money if you plan for it. The PTA at the school in the article should have been more aware of screening a new movie and what it would cost to do it. It's like using copyrighted music in a film. You have to pay the artist royalties and therefore that cost is included in the budget. If they raised $800 in a fundraising event before showing the movie, they could have mentioned the cost to watch the movie and raise more money. I'm not trying to bash the school, but I am saying that it's all about planning and forethought.
Disney needs to recognise their position in the world and sit down and shut up. To the entire Disney corporation, $250 will not make any bit of difference so why would they make such a big deal about this. Also who in their right mind would snitch on a school for showing a movie. In an area where there is already a big deal about schools not having enough funding, it would have had to be someone within the community to snitch, so why would they do that. Also I think that schools in general should be exempt from this copyright law. If someone has spent money on purchasing a copy of a movie, I don’t think that people should be restricted from hosting a watch party. If anything, I can see if there was someone who was making money off of a viewing party, which would then be illegal streaming of the film, but this school was literally just trying to raise money because they are under funded by the state. I am glad that the community is standing up and helping raise funds to cover the $250 fine.
This is really interesting. I don’t really have a problem with it if it is something that is upheld with some consistency. I am initially doubtful of that though. I feel that schools show movies all the time just on a whim when there is nothing to do or when there is about to be a winter or spring break. Do they have to ask for permission every time someone shows a movie or just once when they buy the movie with the intention of showing it during class every year or so? Either way, I agree that this is greedy and ridiculous and should really only be a fineable offense in the case that people are charged to see the movie like an actual theater. I guess maybe because plenty of cities have free events that allow large crowds to see movies, but I don’t understand how that would negatively impact Disney. When it is a public event like that, the people planning it are much more likely to be aware of these fines, but this was just a group of parents throwing a fundraiser. The only people Disney will catch on this is likely the people who are doing no harm and have no knowledge of it.
Disney needs to chill out. I know they are in the middle of their major operation to take over the entire world through “magical days” and monopolizing the entertainment industry, but their copyright laws are incredibly complex and ridgid. It is so disheartening and truly odd that Disney commercializes off being the “happiest place on earth” while also being the epitome of the “evil corporate being.” There are so many instances of them preying on small communities and organizations for making minor offenses while they make millions upon millions of dollars a year. It is a tricky argument though because the laws are the laws. The school here did break copyright regulations, they were simply unaware that they were doing so. The issue in this situation is the manner in which Disney went about addressing this problem. The lack of sympathy is appalling. Disney has so much ability to help this school, and yet they are spending their time fining them for minor offenses.
I didn’t know that showing movies that people bought in a public place needed a special licensing agreement. But it is good to know now. I do understand where Disney is coming from, and where the PTA is coming from. This is a very complicated issue especially considering the PTA did not know they were breaking a law by playing the movie. But really in the scheme of things $250 is nothing to Disney, a multi-billion-dollar company, whereas it is a lot to this school. This is really a bigger problem with the economic situation in our country: they Disney can avoid property taxes, sue a small school for what is a lot of money to them but nothing to Disney and still ultimately be in the right in the eyes of the law, but morally this is wrong. I just can’t imagine that it is that hard for Disney to say, technically you broke a law so don’t do it again but we won’t make you pay money that could’ve gone towards teachers because of it. I am very glad that the school is receiving donations to help pay this fine because this school really does not seem like it deserves to go through this just for showing a children’s movie to children.
I honestly think this is a little ridiculous. While I understand that copyright is an extremely important policy to enforce when it comes to art and entertainment, this scenario proves that often times copyright is not completely understood. Personally, I think that in this instance Disney should not enforce this fee. However, on the flip side, that can set a precedent for future instances in which Disney could lose money. As a student, (as I learned in Computing at CMU), I am allowed to use certain copyrighted content in a school environment. I think the right solution for this would be to set up a law or rule that in the copyright agreement that states that in an educational setting, content such as this is not subject to copyright rules. Also, overall I think this is very low of Disney, as their market is young children, and it's not like $250 would be a significant loss to their company.
In my elementary school, PTA sold food and drinks for a fundraising movie night. I am pretty sure they did not obtain a Public Performance license, but at least they did not charge for the movie itself. The line to determine whether it is a private screening or a public screening is very vague, especially in the educational organizations. Sometimes, a producing company should close their eyes to pretend not to see. Disney has too much power in the entertainment industry that they should especially be careful with their generosity. Otherwise, a case like this would only damage their image no matter what people did. However, while I wonder why Disney could not predict the public response, I do think the PTA should have not charged for tickets. If they really did not know that they were breaking rules, I would have to say I doubt their common sense. Child as I was, I knew the existence of film rights and understood why our parents were making the event somewhat vague. I think teaching those vague lines is also part of the education.
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