Disney Sued Over "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

[moe.ron]

A Flap Over 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'

By Mariam Isa

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African lawyers are suing U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney Co for infringement of copyright on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," the most popular song to emerge from Africa, the lawyers said on Friday.

If Disney loses, South African proceeds from its trademarks -- including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck -- could be seized by the courts, lawyers representing relatives of the song's composer said.

The lilting song, initially called "Mbube," earned an estimated $15 million in royalties since it was written by Zulu migrant worker Solomon Linda in 1939, and featured in Walt Disney's "Lion King" movies.

However, Linda's impoverished family have only received about $15,000, the lawyers said.

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This doesn't look good. I'll be monitoring it here and see how it's going.

[AlphaFrog]

It seems like this is a little late in coming...I mean, how old is that movie? And why (besides the fact that they are a multi-million $ corp.) are they going just after Disney and not Pete Seeger and the others? I realize that Disney has gotten money hungry in the past few decades, but that's definately no reason to stoop below them.

[Taualumna]

And they're suing now??????? Why didn't they do it 10 years ago when "The Lion King" was released?

[Kevin]

I thought copyrights expired on music? Like 40 years after the death of the composer or something like that?

At any rate, it seems to be a case of the government just wanting to loot private enterprise. This could set a horrible precedent in South Africa that would make businesses want to stay away.