A few days ago Emerson Elementary School’s PTA was hit with a bill for $250 because they played Disney’s The Lion King at a Dad’s Club school fundraiser.
They asked for $15 donations during the event, but apparently the school did not have the license to offer Disney films.
As a result the PTA was hit with a $250 bill to cover the fees. That would take a large chunk out of the $800 they earned with the optional $15 donations.
There is actually a license that schools can purchase annually for $536 or they can purchase a one time license for $250. There are about 25,000 schools that do pay the license fees.
So of course the parents took to social media:
Who wants to hear an unbelievable story about how Disney is essentially fining Berkeley’s Emerson Elementary School PTA $250 while reaping millions of dollars through a corporate loophole that has decimated public schools across California? @Schools1stCA @evolve_ca @berkeleyside
— Lori Droste (@loridroste) January 31, 2020
There was a lot of backlash after it spread all over the internet and to news outlets.
Today Disney CEO Bob Iger apologized to the school’s PTA group and even offered to make a personal donation to their organization
Our company @WaltDisneyCo apologizes to the Emerson Elementary School PTA and I will personally donate to their fund raising initiative.
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) February 6, 2020
So the crisis is averted for Emerson Elementary’s PTA. However, I have to wonder if this is going to open the flood gates to other 25,000 schools who have paid the fees and followed the rules. Are they now going to start filing complaints about the fees? I really hope not. I think this was simply a case of the PTA not realizing they had to pay fees to run movies. Plus, from what I can see, Disney wouldn’t have probably found out in the first place. Someone likely reported them. Which is, let’s be honest, at bit crappy.
Either way it has been reversed. Disney probably spent way more money that they would have gotten back just to recoup it’s $250.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
Source: Twitter, MickeyBlog
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.
