Many have seen on the news that Disney sent a $250 bill to a California school PTA because they offered a screening of “The Lion King” during a fundraiser. In fact, many have expressed outrage at this story. Bob Iger has nw come out and has apologized for the Walt Disney Company’s response.
The event was a parent’s night out PTA fundraiser organized by the Dad’s Club. A $15 donation was suggested in order to help raise funds for the PTA.
However, what the group did not take into consideration was the licensing law, which required the group to acquire a $250 single-use permit to show the copyrighted movie.
That being said, it is also at the studio’s discretion whether or not to enforce the policy. Disney went through with enforcement and sent out a bill to the PTA for the licensing fee.
PTA president David Rose reported to KPIX, “The event made $800, so if we have to fork over a third of it to Disney, so be it […] You know, lesson learned.”
Bob Iger himself took to Twitter to announce, “Our company @WaltDisneyCo apologizes to the Emerson Elementary School PTA and I will personally donate to their fundraising initiative.”
Whether done because of the deserved backlash or not, this is the right decision from Iger and the company.
