Disney CEO asks employees to chip in to pay copyright lobbyists

[LiberalArkie]

The Walt Disney Company has a reputation for lobbying hard on copyright issues. The 1998 copyright extension has even been dubbed the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act” by activists like Lawrence Lessig that have worked to reform copyright laws.

This year, the company is turning to its employees to fund some of that battle. Disney CEO Bob Iger has sent a letter to the company’s employees, asking for them to open their hearts—and their wallets—to the company’s political action committee, DisneyPAC.

In the letter, which was provided to Ars by a Disney employee, Iger tells workers about his company's recent intellectual property victories, including stronger IP protections in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Supreme Court victory that destroyed Aereo, and continued vigilance about the "state of copyright law in the digital environment." It also mentions that Disney is seeking an opening to lower the corporate tax rate.

"With the support of the US Government we achieved a win in the Supreme Court against Aereo—an Internet service claiming the right to retransmit our broadcast signals without paying copyright or retransmission consent fees," writes Iger. "In the coming year, we expect Congress and the Administration to be active on copyright regime issues, efforts to enact legislation to approve and implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, tax reform, and more proposals to weaken retransmission consent, to name a few."

Snip

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/disney-ceo-asks-employees-to-chip-in-to-pay-copyright-lobbyists/

[hifiguy]

1. Every change made to the copyright laws in the last 50 years

should have been labeled the "Protect Mickey Mouse in Perpetuity Act."

Disney is evil as hell.

[gratuitous]

2. The Holy Rodent Empire doesn't give up its copyright easily or ever

The company and its lawyers have long been ultra-vigilant about any unlicensed or unauthorized use of anything Disney, and their copyright has been extended long past the usual time for a person to profit from his creative output. Disney characters should have passed into the public domain decades ago.

[Botany]

3. The man (Bob Iger) has some balls

Iger earned a $13.5 million bonus in 2010, which was a 45.4% increase from 2009. He made $34.3M in 2013, with his cash bonus down 14.7% from the previous year. While CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2015, Iger earned a total compensation of $46.5 million, of which $2,500,000 was salary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Iger

[TheBlackAdder]

4. Fuck Disney! Most of their profits came from PUBLIC DOMAIN origins! They ship profits to Luxembourg!

[dmr]

5. Oh, wow, payroll deductions, too.

Geeez, this is so nervy.

[closeupready]

6. I'd like to hear what Madeline Albright thinks about this.