Reader comments
Disney puts a crimp in BYU tour

Dealing with Disney is one of the worse experiences in the word.

We met with them over a computer project one time.
The first thing they said in the meeting, in Utah, at our site, was that anything mused, though outloud basically anything spoken was theirs. It would belong to them.

We showed them the door.

Arrogant jerks...
They really were full of themselves.
The funny thing is that these individuals weren't "disney" other then working for them. I'm sure the founders and original folks were easier to work with.
I say this because we used to get Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak at our site a lot. The ironic thing is that he was there for a disney project to do some R&D with us.
One of the brightest and nicest guys around. A pleasure to deal with.

Too bad, but that's the real world. There's good and bad in every situation.

We attended their concert in Brisbane and were looking forward to the Disney songs. The replacement songs were fine but the young ones in the audience would have enjoyed 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' even more.

They truly were great ambassadors for BYU, the LDS church and also for the USA.

A story that you won't read about is how some in the troupe learned that a young down syndrome girl in the audience was there on her birthday. After the concert finished, the entire group found her and all began singing 'Happy Birthday' to her. Way to make someone feel SPECIAL!! Well done.

Too bad that those representing Disney have hi-jacked the name and reputation of a once great organization.
If anyone named Disney was still there this wouldn't be happening, in fact it would be considered a compliment and an asset to have the BYU featuring anything Disney. Sounds as if anyone can play their music in any place and by anyone if they come up with the fee. Too bad. so sad, apparently they've gone "Hollywood".

Pick up a copy of "Disney: The Mouse Betrayed" and you will see what a bunch of sleazes are running that once great organization. It is a shame Walt is not around to clean out the Rat Factory.

Many years ago, our family met Walt Disney. What a wonderful and gracious man. He gave away more than these "corporate" Disney wealth freaks will ever understand. After his death, we could see the enlightening of Disney - donating millions to anti-Christian and pro-gay organizations. All they seem to care about is looking good in the Political Correct world and gouging anyone who uses their facilities. Yep, the real world - that is bunk. I will take the 50's any day. You knew your neighbors, people were fair and honest, they believed in God and said so.

Disney annoys me. The company likes to put forward a family friendly image, but it's only a part of their marketing plan. The fact is that Disney is really about one thing: pushing products and making money.

My kids (although still small) have never been to Disneyland, never seen 95% of the Disney movies, and don't own any Disney products. I don't want them to grow up hooked on an organization that is really nothing more than a corporation.

Disney today is a vicious, mean, greedy corporation. It is not the Disney of old, and hasn't been since they locked up land in Florida. I suspect that the Y and Disney could have cut a deal early on. The Y should have checked things out better. Disney needs to hire a diplomat and to look at the big picture.

I have to disagree. I have worked for the Disney company for over ten years, and it is a joy! There is a lot of hypocrisy from LDS and BYU supporters in denouncing Disney for protecting their intellectual property, but then the Church is trying to do the same thing in distinguishing itself from the FLDS polygamists and you all think that is not only just fine, but absolutely necessary! Come on, fellow Saints, you are better than that. Quit being so hypocritical. Disney is a fantastic organization. Believe me, I'm one of them.

I would think that BYU would have its legal licenses and rights worked out BEFORE they planned an expensive tour to Australia. What kind of negligence is going on at that University? They consume millions of dollars in sacred Tithing funds and then waste those precious funds on incompetence in dealing with licensing issues?! How much are we wasting to have lawyers clean up this mess when it should have been taken care of before (or at the time) the performances were being designed?

I thought byu WAS disneyland....or at least mostly pretend.

Reply to Concerned Saint...
You obviously didn't read the whole article. BYU has licenses including blanket license for which they felt these 3 numbers fell under. The actions by Disney is either to clarify what exactly the interpretation is or they are ignorant of the agreements already in place. No big deal. No incompetance. No waste of church resources. Hint, I have found that focusing on the details of a news piece really averts unfounded emotional reactions that the writers expertly use to draw interest.

"I don't want them to grow up hooked on an organization that is really nothing more than a corporation"

Really?!?!?

So do you grow your own produce? Farm your own meat? Not watch ANY TV? Build your own car? Sew your own clothes? Own your own bank? Build your own toys for your kids? etc., etc.

Dude, they're already hooked on those evil corperations. But good stand on Disney.

Intellectual Reserve

Hello fellow Latter-Day Saints, here's an FYI for you. We say we believe in obeying the laws of the land and believe it or not liscencing in this country is leagal, just because it's BYU does not mean it's excempt. How would you like it if someone took YOUR intellecutal property? Quit whining about the 'evil empire' garbage, Disney followed the law the Young Ambassadors did not.

It's all about money. BYU thought that they had the licenses (which they most likely do have) and the money grubbers at Disney say they do not.

AMEN!!! Would this even be a story if it didn't involve BYU??? WHAT??? BYU DIDN'T GET WHAT THEY WANTED??? DISNEY DIDN'T KISS THEIR FEET??? STOP THE WORLD!! IT'S THE END OF DAYS!!! Get over it, the show went on.

If what BYU was proposing to do violated the terms of the licensing agreement with ASCAP, etc., then by all means the Disney legal counsel have the obligation to protect Disney's rights in the performance. Disney is first and foremost a for-profit organization aimed at making money (and there is nothing wrong with that). They shouldn't have to give up their valuable intellectual property rights just because some university group wants to perform them, even if the performance is for "good" purposes. They have the right to determine how, when, or if their music is performed (subject to limited exceptions, which I don't believe apply in this case). To brand them as anti-family because of this decision is ridiculous.

The rights to the music belong to Disney. If BYU screwed up on getting the license agreements in place, BYU is the one who should pay the consequence, and certainly not Disney.

Funny thing, your "hint" applies, precisely, to most of the anti-Disney commentors above.

For an organization whose "bread and butter" is the performance of copyrighted material, what's so hard about having something like this straightened out very early on?

Reminds me of the "gee, a little more research/ legal analysis would have been nice" hole that was dug before the Main Street/Plaza lawsuits. Had somebody bothered to research whether a thoroughfare previously "public," which remains open for public use after being put in private hands carries with it First Amendment protections, a lot of trouble could have been avoided.

In this situation, the blanket license agreement in question either covers the production of the numbers in question or it doesn't.

Shouldn't somebody have known that months ago?

Disney is not a greedy, mean, vicious company. I'm a senior at BYU, and my family lives on Disney World property (city of Buena Vista). My dad has been working there for over 30 years. Disney has done a lot of good in the world and you neo-cons can see past your thick bubble. Are you kidding?

And how many of you understand anything about the Law? Just because BYU "thought" these songs fell under their blanket license sure doesn't mean that it did. I defend Disney 100% and their rights to their songs. The BYU Ambassadors need to a lesson on the real world. Simply clarifying the purpose of the BYU Ambassadors will not change the mind of Disney. Disney is a business. Always was. And any smart business actually uses copyrights. Do not slam Disney and its employees. You are ignorant and uneducated if if you do.

Disney is actually a very nice company. Nice enough not to sue the pants off of BYU. Get out of your "but we're really nice" bubble and step into the real world: Go pay for a license to use Disney songs. It's not that hard to do.