Disney Asking Employees To Help Fund Copyright Lobbying (arstechnica.com)

NormalVisual writes: Disney is now asking its employees to chip in to promote the company's copyright agenda via the company's political action committee, DisneyPAC. CEO Bob Iger has sent a letter to the company's employees lauding the company's success with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the video service Aereo -- an Internet service claiming the right to retransmit [Disney's] broadcast signals without paying copyright or retransmission consent fees. Iger also expresses the company's hope that DisneyPAC will be able to influence Congress in regards to lowering corporate tax rates. Not surprisingly, the company refuses to comment on the initiative.

Comments

disgusting

[vel-ex-tech]

The idea that legislation needs "funding" is odious in unto itself.

Subvert the Constitution

[frovingslosh]

Lets just be clear, Disney's stated goal towards Copyright Law is to Subvert the U.S. Constitution and see that the clause where works eventually pass into Public Domain (a benefit the public is to receive in return for giving Copyright Protection to Authors) never actually applies.

Re: Isn't that illegal?

[DaMattster]

Unfortunately, no it isn't illegal. I worked at a company once that did this all of the time. It came through email in a company bulletin so I just created an Outlook rule for these emails to go to junk. The way I see it, I'm not going to read propaganda that looks and reads eerily similarly to what the Chinese Communist Party churns out. I don't want to align my personal agenda with that of my employer's because the net benefit is to my employer and not to me. I don't want to help my employer to manipulate the legal system in their favor.

Re:Isn't that illegal?

[GNious]

From TFA:

US corporations are allowed to solicit political contributions as long as donations aren't coerced. The relevant law bars any "threat of a detrimental job action, the threat of any other financial reprisal, or the threat of force" when asking for donations.

My former employer, as US company, had us attend an event with customers, where we would be sitting at tables 8 people mixed employees and customers, and there would be a collection going around for a charity.
When I declined to contribute, things got pretty chilly at the table; people were in shock that I wasn't donating my private earnings towards a charity in order to make my employer look good.

Yeah, it wasn't political, and it wasn't direct threats, but I have never felt as shitty about a job as I did right there and then ... it was also the moment I realized I loathed that particular employer.

Re:Corporation lobbies for shareholders?

[Anonymous Coward]

and if you are not in a positions to quit and vote with your feet, what? Suck it up?

Fuck you.

If you want to know what Disney is like, go see South Park's "The Ring" episode or ask anybody who's ever worked for them just how evil they are. Example: they financially screwed and lied about Robin Williams for years. Finally, when the Mouse decided the NEEDED Williams, the new boss apologizes and all is supposed to be well. Now imagine what they get away with on people without that kind of star power...

"You realize now when you work for Disney why the mouse has only four fingers -- because he can’t pick up a check." -- Robin Williams.

http://boingboing.net/2014/08/13/the-time-disney-duped-robin-wi.html

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/12/the-genie-is-free-robin-williams-s-complicated-relationship-with-disney.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/robin-williams-disney-feud-picasso-gift-2014-11

Immoral and pure greedhead: Disney is they name...

We need Stricter Copyright

[wisnoskij]

Did you know, Charles Perrault's family, etc. all, have not received a cent of royalties from the Disney corporation for their copying of their stories.

IP solution

[wheeda]

Here is my ideal IP solution. All IP (patents and copyright) must state a value. Any value at all. The owner of the IP then pays intellectual property tax a some rate. If someone else really wants that IP, they can pay the owner the stated amount and the IP becomes public domain.

This solves all kinds of issues including orphaned works, patent trolls, and the likes of Disney tying up copyrighted works that should have entered the public domain decades ago. Well, maybe Disney could still tie up copyrighted works, but at least it would cost them to the benefit of tax payers.

Legal in US and sycophants like it.

[jbn-o]

Sadly, as right thinking as your reaction is most /. readers don't agree with your take with regard to Disney's actions here and don't have the guts to admit they don't agree. Their unprincipled obeisance to Disney's power is unlike some posters to the Ars Technica (Condé Nast) forum on this story who object publicly such as user "SmokeTest":

Yeah, because Disney totally can't afford lobbying unless they go to their workers with their hands out, and the state of copyright in the country is incredibly hostile to Disney. Of course they need to go to their lowest paid employees and ask them to fund their effort to further corrupt the laws to line the pockets of the executives with more cash than ever.

This is fucking disgusting. I'm done supporting Disney in any way, forever. Going to be hard not watching the new Star Wars movies in theaters, but man, this shit has got to end.

Power-for-power's-sake supporting /.ers will pay to see the next Star Wars movie, visit Disney theme parks, buy Disney-licensed merchandise of all kinds and thus feed the system that oppresses the world via copyright and TPP. This fight goes far beyond the term of copyright both in who is affected and specific powers multinational corporations seek to gain.

Re:why not just get the foreign workers to pay for

[Opportunist]

Because greed. Duh.