UPDATE: Within hours of issuing the retraction on the copyright claim, Disney re-sent the same claim to Facebook, this time demanding the removal of the entire post (which didn’t violate copyright to begin with). Not only is the original post gone, but the Facebook user who took the photo is currently under a three-day ban from posting anything to the site. [More]
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Disney Forces Takedown Of Star Wars Figure Photos; Realizes Maybe That’s Not A Good Idea
By 12.11.15
Want To Watch ESPN Without Cable? Buy A PlayStation
By 11.5.15
Live sports — the supposed killer app that keeps people subscribing to cable when otherwise they might cut the cord — is, well, going cordless. Disney today announced a deal with Sony that will bring all of their programming, including ESPN, to a streaming service near you. At least, if you live in the right area. [More]
“Boy” Costume For Female Star Wars Character Was Supposed To Be Unisex, Says Manufacturer
By 9.14.15
You might be aware of this, but Disney has a new Star Wars flick coming out soon. As such, there’s been a flood of products tied to The Force Awakens — everything from toys to costumes, droid dolls to pajama sets. One of those costumes is for the Captain Phasma character, a new villain played by Gwendoline Christie (aka Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones) — a character that girls and boys alike might want to dress up as for Halloween (or for a regular Tuesday). So how come it’s being sold with a “BOY” label on it in a store? [More]
Disney, Lucasfilm, Sanrio Sue Makers Of Counterfeit Marvel, Star Wars, Hello Kitty Cake Frosting
By 9.4.15
We’ve all seen local bakeries and supermarkets selling cakes decorated with the images of trademarked cartoon/movie/comic characters and not many people seem to care that the decorator may not have permission to use these images. But there’s also a difference between someone’s hand-iced Captain America cake and a company that uses movie stills and promotional art to make pre-fab cake frosting sheets. Thus, Disney, Lucasfilm and Sanrio — tired of seeing cakes featuring the unauthorized faces of Yoda, Iron Man, and Hello Kitty — have teamed up to sue two Michigan men for trademark and copyright infringement. [More]
Investors Decide Cord-Cutting Is Real And Worrisome, Cable Network Stocks Drop All Around
By 8.6.15
Cord-cutting, in which (usually younger) pay-TV subscribers walk away from cable and embrace new ways of accessing media, has been a known phenomenon since at least 2011. But it’s been a slow-rolling snowball, even as services like Netflix soar into the stratosphere. This year, however, it seems that Wall Street traditionalists have finally caught on to the change, and they’re not happy. [More]
European Union Investigates Claims Disneyland Paris Charges Different Prices According To Where Customer Lives
By 7.29.15
In European Union member states, consumers aren’t supposed to be charged differently for products or services depending on where they live. Yet visitors to the happiest place accessible by Paris commuter rail, Disneyland Paris, have complained to the European Commission that the resort charges people differently according to where they’re from. [More]
Want ESPN Without Having To Buy Other Channels? Maybe In A Few Years
By 7.27.15
As some cable and live-streaming services take a step back from offering costly sports-filled channels in their bundles, the parent company of the biggest sports network on cable is looking at other ways to continue its dominance, namely by selling direct to consumers. [More]
Now Your Kid Can Enjoy A Disney-Licensed MP3 Player That’s Older Than She Is
By 7.20.15
The first film in the live-action Disney franchise High School Musical was released in 2006. Like all Disney properties, it came with a significant amount of licensed merchandise, since that’s how Disney keeps Mickey Mouse in cheddar. So this movie-branded MP3/WMA player found on a shelf at Walmart wouldn’t really have attracted our attention…if it were still 2007. [More]
3 Obvious Signs This “Walt Disney-World.” Facebook Giveaway Is A Scam
By 7.16.15 — Updated: 5.23.17
Another day, another Facebook scam that has suckered more than 25,000 people in just a matter of hours — in spite of the fact that nothing about this supposed giveaway indicates that it’s legitimate. [More]
Disney Puts The Kibosh On Selfie Sticks In All Of Its Theme Parks
By 6.26.15
You can rest easy the next time you go to Disney World, knowing that you won’t get whapped in the face by an errant selfie stick: Under a new policy, the phone extension sticks are banned from Disney World’s theme parks. Not just on rides, but nowhere within the borders of the Magic Kingdom. And by that I mean, nowhere in any of the parks. [More]
Disney Ordered To Rehire Workers Who Refused To Wear “Contaminated” Costumes
By 4.28.15
Three performers fired from Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando last June after they refused to wear costumes dubbed “contaminated” by other sweaty garments will be given their old jobs back and get back pay. [More]
Disney Pulls Ads For Verizon’s ESPN-Less Cable Package
By 4.23.15
Earlier this week, Verizon FiOS began offering customers a new way to choose which cable channels they pay for, by allowing them to pay for a small base package of core channels and then pay to add on niche-targeted bundles of 10-17 channels each. This didn’t sit well with ESPN, the most expensive channel on just about everyone’s pay-TV lineup, and ESPN’s corporate overlords at Disney are reportedly refusing to air ads for FiOS’s new offering. [More]
Star Wars Films To Finally Become Digital Downloads
By 4.7.15
While almost every important movie has long been made available as a digital download by now, the six films in the Star Wars saga have not (legally) been obtainable this way. But that will finally change starting Friday when all of the movies will be released online at the same time. [More]
Couple Travels 7,900 Miles In 28 Hours To Visit Three Disney Theme Parks On Valentine’s Day
By 2.18.15
So you think you love Disney, huh? Do you love it enough to fly to three different Disney theme parks in one day just to snap a celebratory anniversary photo? Didn’t think so, but one couple from San Diego managed to pull it off in the name of love on Valentine’s Day. [More]
Sony Realizes There’s Money To Be Made In Sharing Spider-Man With Rest Of Marvel Universe
By 2.10.15
While Disney-owned Marvel Studios has Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Avengers to play with, one marquee Marvel character, Spider-Man, is controlled by Sony, which hasn’t been eager to share its lucrative toy with others. But Sony is apparently in a more generous mood after seeing a string of Marvel movies make boffo box-office returns and is willing to let their web-slinging superhero play with his pals. [More]
5 Things To Consider Before Spending $20/Month On Sling TV
By 2.9.15
This morning, Dish’s Sling TV streaming service ended its invite-only period and opened the floodgates to anyone who wants to sign up for $20/month access. We’ve been messing around with Sling for a few days and have come across some issues you should take into account before deciding to sign up. [More]
Disney Considering Marvel, ‘Star Wars’ Streaming Services
By 2.4.15
With its involvement in Dish’s Sling TV service, Disney has shown that it’s willing to experiment with making its high-value cable programming available to consumers who don’t want traditional cable TV. So why not look into that same approach for its marquee movie titles? [More]
Disney Cruise Ship Removes 4-Month-Old Infant, Ends Family Vacation
By 1.7.15
A Disney cruise is supposed to be fun for people of all ages, but one family from Florida is upset because family vacations apparently have an age limit. Disney Cruise Lines recently changed their lower age limit for passengers, banning babies under 6 months of age when they had previously allowed infants 12 weeks and older on board. The policy was suddenly enforced when the 4-month old visited the ship’s doctor. [More]
