• Disney Must Pay Campaign The #DisneyMustPay Task Force’s website.
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• The #DisneyMustPay Task Force Calls on Disney–Again–to Pay the Writers (Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware, 4-28-22)
Walt Disney said, “When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way.” We believe all authors must be paid. The #DisneyMustPay campaign started in November 2020 with a press conference and an open letter to Mickey Mouse.
"You’ve paid some authors what you owed them. But there are other creators that you don’t want to talk about. And, because you did not take our advice, new creators are coming forward who are owed money, too."
"You still refuse to recognize your obligations to lesser known authors who wrote media tie-in works for Marvel, for Star Wars, for Aliens, for Predator, for Buffy: TVS and more, universes that you’ve bought the rights to, along with the obligations to those creators. You’ve re-published their works but have failed to do even the bare necessities of contract and talent management. You’ve failed to pay these writers royalties they’re legally owed, and have not given them the courtesy of royalty statements and reprint notices."
"These pandemic years have been hard on creators. Surveys by the Authors Guild and the Society of Authors have shown 71.4% of writers' incomes in the USA and 57% in the UK have declined since it began. Inflation is growing, bills still need to be paid. Honor the contracts."
• Disney Must Pay $270 Million in Battle Over ‘Millionaire’ (New York Times Archive, 7-8-10) The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday was ordered to pay almost $270 million in damages to Celador, the British production company that created the hit game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” more than a decade ago.
Regis Philbin hosted the game show series “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” when it was a hit in the United States in 1999, Brian Stelter and Brooks Barnes reported for The New York Times.
Celador asserted that Disney cheated it out of revenue owed from “Millionaire,” which became a television sensation in the United States in 1999. The jurors agreed that Disney was guilty of breaching a contract.
• #DisneyMustPay: Disney Is Still Not Paying Authors (Reddit) "Disney is taking the position that while they've purchased the rights to those properties, they haven't acquired the corresponding obligations stipulated in the contracts...such as payment and reporting."
• #DisneyMustPay Uncovers Additional Unpaid Writers Owed Royalties by Disney (Authors Guild, 4-29-21) Contract issues with Disney-owned/controlled companies continue to affect multiple authors across different writer organizations. To advocate for these writers, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) formed the #DisneyMustPay Joint Task Force with the Authors Guild, Horror Writers Association, National Writers Union, Novelists, Inc., Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime to identify and guide authors who might be owed money. The task force includes members such as Neil Gaiman, Tess Gerritsen, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Chuck Wendig.
Are You Owed Money?
Authors may be missing royalty statements or checks across a wide range of properties in prose, comics, or graphic novels. This list is incomplete and based on properties for which we have verified reports of missing statements and royalties:
LucasFilm (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.)
Boom! Comics (licensed comics including Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Dark Horse Comics (licensed comics including Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
20th Century Fox (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alien, etc.)
Marvel Worldwide (Spider-Man, Predator)
Disney Worldwide Publishing (Buffy, Angel)
• Disney Must Pay Campaign (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association)
• SFWA Publisher Reporting Tool By submitting your information to SFWA, you agree that SFWA will follow up and take appropriate action as needed with the appropriate party/committee within our organization to resolve your issue.
• DisneyMustPay: authors form task force to fight for missing payments (Alison Flood,The Guardian 4-28-21) Coalition of author groups call for Disney to pay outstanding royalties owed to writers of novels and comics including Star Wars, Alien and Buffy the Vampire Slayer series it now owns