Disney CEO Bob Iger apologizes for fining school that screened ‘Lion King’

By: Adam S.

Disney’s CEO has issued an apology after the company was slammed for fining a California elementary school — because it screened the new “Lion King” film during a fundraiser.

“Our company @WaltDisneyCo apologizes to the Emerson Elementary School PTA and I will personally donate to their fund raising initiative,” Bob Iger posted on Twitter.

The controversy started last year when parents enjoying a “Parent’s Night Out” fundraiser for Emerson Elementary School in Berkeley watched a copy of the 2019 film that one of the dad’s had bought at Best Buy, CNN reported.

“He owned it. We literally had no idea we were breaking any rules,” PTA president David Rose told the outlet.

Movie Licensing USA, which handles screening rights for Disney, sent the school a letter in January demanding a $250 fine for showing the film without permission.

Copyright law prohibits screening movies in public to an audience without paying a licensing fee.

Parent Lori Droste, who also serves on Berkeley City Council, took to Twitter to slam the company for charging the fee.

“Emerson PTA probably raised $250 that night TO PAY PUR [sic] TEACHERS AND HELP OUR KIDS,” she tweeted. “$250 is a ton for a PTA. $250 is chump change for Disney.”

Other users criticized a possible “snitch” who may have told Disney about the screening.

“Some loser went to a PTA fundraiser at Emerson Elementary in Berkeley, CA & then snitched,” user @scenebyashlix wrote.

However, others defend Disney for enforcing its licensing.

“It costs $195 for a year-long umbrella license to screen movies for school fundraisers. The Emerson Elementary PTA claims to raise over $170k a year for their school,” @snickerpants wrote. “Don’t tell me they couldn’t afford it. They either didn’t think about licensing or didn’t want to.”

“So what about all of the title 1 schools, other PTO/PTA groups, & schools who actually follow the rules and use their meager budgets to purchase the license and who don’t make $8000 off of failing to follow the rules? Will you be donating to all of those fundraisers?” Twitter user @JamieHeather80 wrote to Iger.