‘No More Handouts’: Josh Hawley Introduces Bill Ending Disney’s Special Copyright Protections

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley will introduce legislation stripping Disney of its special copyright privileges, he announced Tuesday.

Hawley’s “Copyright Clause Restoration Act of 2022” would limit the length of copyrights Congress gives corporations to 56 years and would apply retroactively, according to Fox News. The move comes after a public battle between Disney and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis which ended with DeSantis stripping the company of its special administrative zone and accompanying tax privileges in April.

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“No more handouts for woke corporations. Today I’m introducing legislation to strip @Disney of its special copyright protections,” Hawley tweeted Tuesday.

Congress has allowed corporations to extend their copyrights for up to 120 years through the Copyright Term Extension Act, more commonly known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, Hawley’s office told Fox News.

“The age of Republican handouts to Big Business is over,” Hawley told Fox News. “Thanks to special copyright protections from Congress, woke corporations like Disney have earned billions while increasingly pandering to woke activists. It’s time to take away Disney’s special privileges and open up a new era of creativity and innovation.”

Disney drew blowback for its opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which bans classroom instruction on gender identity and sexuality in kindergarten through third grade.

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Leaked videos published soon after Disney came out against the Florida legislation reportedly showed internal meetings in which Disney employees plotted to inject LGBT content into children’s shows and explained how the company was helping employees medically transition themselves and their children to the opposite sex.

Disney did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.