No Rock And Roll Fun

DISNEY ATTEMPT TO PUT THE LION TO SLEEP: Disney, seemingly a little riled at being accused of pinching The Lion Sleeps Tonight, have issued a, yes, a statement:

"As a company built on the strength of its creative content, the Walt Disney Company takes all matters of copyright ownership seriously. To the extent that a copyright ownership issue exists in this case, it should be taken up with Abilene Music publishers, from which the rights to 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' were properly licensed."

Erm, up to a point, Lord Copper - under South African law, lawyers for the family of Solomon Linda, rights to the song should have reverted to them in 1987, which would make it impossible to licence anything from Abilene music. In the same way that a licence to make Mickey Mouse toilet paper would have no legal value unless it was actually issued by the copyright holder. We're certain Disney acted in good faith, but thats not quite the same thing as being in the right.

We also love the idea that Disney is built on the strength of its "creative content", when these days its reliant on bought-in brands like Winnie The Pooh and Nemo.