# Top donors for Clinton - Disney and Dreamworks **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 7, 2016, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394 "2016-02-07T06:39:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/1 "2016-02-07T06:39:02Z")
I found it interested that Trump claimed not to be controlled by lobbyists, etc. His top donors: (highest is $10,000) > **[Top Contributors, federal election data for Donald Trump, 2016 cycle](https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contributors?cycle=All&id=N00023864&type)** > > This page highlights the top contributors to Donald Trump for the 2016 presidential election cycle. For more information, click through to the page. A video about Clinton’s Wall Street donors: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=400&width=400&href=https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/videos/hillary-celebrates-facebook-friends-day/10153355097829117/ Her top donors: > **[Top Contributors, federal election data for Hillary Clinton, 2016 cycle](https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contributors?cycle=2016&id=N00000019&type=f)** > > This page highlights the top contributors to Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidential election cycle. For more information, click through to the page. What I found interesting was Disney ($3m) and Dreamworks ($2m) were top donors… > **[Copyright Term Extension Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act)** > > The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono Act, or (derisively) the Mickey Mouse Protection Act – extended copyright terms in the United States in 1998. It is one of several acts extending the terms of copyrights. > Following the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years (or the last surviving author), or 75 years from publication or 100 years from creation, whichever is shorter for a work o... “The Walt Disney Company lobbied extensively on behalf of the Act, which delayed the entry into the public domain of the earliest Mickey Mouse movies, leading to the nickname “The Mickey Mouse Protection Act”.” I wonder why Disney and Dreamworks are top donors? Are they thanking Bill Clinton for his Copyright Term Extension Act? It looks like Mickey Mouse’s copyright will expire in 2023… [http://artlawjournal.com/mickey-mouse-keeps-changing-copyright-law/](http://artlawjournal.com/mickey-mouse-keeps-changing-copyright-law/) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/2 "2016-02-07T23:59:22Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I wonder why Disney and Dreamworks are top donors? Are they thanking Bill Clinton for his Copyright Term Extension Act? Somehow I doubt that the big-money corps are in the habit of thanking pols for _past_ favors. I could see Disney wanting to have Mickey’s copyright extended and being willing to pay the big bucks to ensure that happening. But…DreamWorks? what copyrights do _they_ hold that are in danger? (In other words: ‘influence in extending copyrights’ may not be what’s behind those donations.) Also: once there’s a GOP nominee, we will have to see how much largesse Disney and DreamWorks bestows upon _him_ (presumably it will be a ‘him’), if we want to make sense of this information. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/3 "2016-02-08T00:27:31Z")
Clicking through to the Disney page shows that they skew heavily Democratic. In the 2014 cycle the two biggest recipients were the Democratic Congressional and Senatorial Campaign Committees. Hillary was the presumptive nominee pretty early in this cycle. Even with Sanders doing better than most expected he’s still in less likely territory. One of the themes has been Clinton being more electable. Sanders also doesn’t pursue large corporate donations so they might have just supported the only major candidate who showed up and asked. It doesn’t take anything more than Disney wanted to ensure a Democrat wins in November to explain Clinton getting a big check. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/4 "2016-02-09T02:22:39Z")
I suppose that they could be hoping for stronger anti-piracy legislation, something like the DMCA. That would be relevant for both age-old Disney and newcomer Dreamworks. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/5 "2016-02-09T05:12:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I suppose that they could be hoping for stronger anti-piracy legislation, something like the DMCA. That would be relevant for both age-old Disney and newcomer Dreamworks. Maybe in the copyright extension legislation they’d also include related IP laws that might be of interest for Dreamworks. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/6 "2016-02-09T08:50:46Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Maybe in the copyright extension legislation they’d also include related IP laws that might be of interest for Dreamworks. Dreamworks donations probably just reflect the politics of its founders. Spielberg has been a Clinton supporter since Bill’s campaigns, and Jeffery Skoll got into movies specifically to produce films with a liberal message. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/7 "2016-02-09T09:06:54Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Dreamworks donations probably just reflect the politics of its founders. Spielberg has been a Clinton supporter since Bill’s campaigns, and Jeffery Skoll got into movies specifically to produce films with a liberal message. But why is the combined Dreamworks donations equal to the top 6th donation? ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/8 "2016-02-09T09:07:57Z")
Disney’s donation of $3 million seems to have disappeared! > **[Top Contributors, federal election data for Hillary Clinton, 2016 cycle](https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contributors?cycle=2016&id=N00000019&type=f)** > > This page highlights the top contributors to Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidential election cycle. For more information, click through to the page. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/9 "2016-02-09T09:31:28Z")
See the Google cache: [https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EjPQFhDwqfwJ:https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contrib.php%3Fcycle%3D2016%26id%3DN00000019+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EjPQFhDwqfwJ:https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contrib.php%3Fcycle%3D2016%26id%3DN00000019+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au) [![](https://i.imgur.com/dyz6E1J.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/dyz6E1J.png) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/10 "2016-02-09T09:52:58Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > But why is the combined Dreamworks donations equal to the top 6th donation? Because…that’s how much money they donated? Both Spielberg and Skoll are billionaires, so presumably they can afford a couple million without thinking about it too hard. And I assume some of the other higher-ups at Dreamworks have similar politics and bankaccount balances. ETA: Googling, Jefferey Katzenberg seems to be an even bigger Dem donater then Spielberg, with multiple stories about him making million-dollar donations to Dem candidates, including Hillary. So again, I think Dreamworks just has a lot of liberal, democratic loyalists amongst its owners and top-brass. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/11 "2016-02-09T10:35:03Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Because…that’s how much money they donated? Both Spielberg and Skoll are billionaires, so presumably they can afford a couple million without thinking about it too hard. And I assume some of the other higher-ups at Dreamworks have similar politics and bankaccount balances. > > ETA: Googling, Jefferey Katzenberg seems to be an even bigger Dem donater then Spielberg, with multiple stories about him making million-dollar donations to Dem candidates, including Hillary. So again, I think Dreamworks just has a lot of liberal, democratic loyalists amongst its owners and top-brass. Thanks I didn’t think of that ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-donors-for-clinton-disney-and-dreamworks/745394/12 "2016-02-09T21:12:20Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Disney’s donation of $3 million seems to have disappeared! > [https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contrib.php?cycle=2016&id=N00000019&type=f](https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contrib.php?cycle=2016&id=N00000019&type=f) How does THAT happen? Unless you return the donation (yeah, right)