Anyone who's ever been on the PTA knows that organizing fundraisers is no small feat. There's a whole lot of planning that goes into pulling one off, and plenty of things that could go wrong. But we're willing to bet that parents at Emerson Elementary School in Berkeley, California, never could have expected the way one of their recent fundraising events would turn out. According to CNN, they were slapped with a $250 fine — for showing the 2019 live-action remake of Disney's "The Lion King."
It happened at a parent's night out event November 15, 2019.
Although the event was geared toward adults, there were some children present — and to keep them entertained, organizers decided to screen a family-friendly movie.
"One of the dads bought the movie at Best Buy," PTA president David Rose told CNN. "He owned it. We literally had no idea we were breaking any rules."
The night went off without a hitch -- or so everyone thought.
Last Thursday, some two months after the event, the school received an email from a company called Movie Licensing USA, which manages licensing for Disney and other major studios, according to CNN.
In the email, the company claimed to have "received an alert" that The Lion King had been screened during an event in November. Just how they were "alerted" is still a mystery to the parents at Emerson Elementary School.
They were then told to cough up $250 for screening the film without the proper license -- plus another $250 for any future viewings.
(Yes, really.)
"Any time a movie is shown outside of the home, legal permission is needed to show it, as it is considered a Public Performance," stated the email, which was obtained by CNN.
"Any time movies are shown without the proper license, copyright law is violated and the entity showing the movie can be fined by the studios. If a movie is shown for any entertainment reason — even in the classroom, it is required by law that the school obtains a Public Performance license."
Parents were PO'd (to say the least).
After all, it's not as though they were collecting ticket sales to see the movie. It was merely to entertain a bunch of kids.
At least one parent also called out what she felt was a blatant hypocrisy.
"There was an initiative passed in 1979 called Proposition 13 which casts the property tax on all land, and so Disney's property tax rates are at 1978 values which translates into millions upon millions of dollars a year that Disney is not paying," noted Berkeley City Council member Lori Droste, who also happens to be a parent at Emerson Elementary.
"Because of that, our schools are now extremely underfunded," she told CNN. "We went from the '70s being among the top education systems in the US to one of the lowest."
On Thursday, after news of the fine reached the ears of Mickey Mouse himself, Disney apologized for the incident.
"Our company @WaltDisneyCo apologizes to the Emerson Elementary School PTA," Bob Iger, Disney's CEO, wrote in a tweet. "I will personally donate to their fund raising initiative."
In just a few hours, the message was retweeted hundreds of times.
"This is the Disney we all want," tweeted one user.
"Definitely the right move. Well done," wrote another.
No response yet from the folks at Emerson, but we're willing to bet this is music to their ears.
Droste added that to many parents at the school, which serves low-income areas, $250 isn't exactly a small fee.
Especially when the entire fundraiser brought in just $800.
"It's just so appalling that an incredibly wealthy corporation … is having its licensing agents chase after a PTA having to raise insane amounts of money just to pay teachers, cover financial scholarships and manage school programs," Droste told CNN. "We would be enthusiastic about paying the license fee if Disney was willing to have their properties reassessed and pay some additional property taxes."
