Watch the video version of this article and see interviews with people mentioned in the player above.
WHY THE NEW SUPERMAN MOVIE COULD BE BANNED IN AUSTRALIA
There’s an ongoing battle taking place right now about the international rights to Superman and it could mean the anticipated new film could be banned from screening in Australia.
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As INSIDE MEDIA reported in February, the estate of Superman co-creator Joseph Shuster has launched a copyright claim against Warner Bros. Discovery.
The claim states “the copyright laws of countries with the British legal tradition — including Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia — contain provisions automatically terminating such assignments 25 years after an author’s death, vesting in the Shuster Estate the co-author’s undivided copyright interest in such countries”.
The case was dismissed a month ago and everyone thought it was over.
But they were wrong.
According to US media company Puck, lawyer Marc Toberoff “has refiled his case in New York state court, where it’s now pending. What’s more, he’s shooting for a quick injunction to block Warner Bros. from exploiting Superman in those foreign territories, theoretically jeopardizing the global rollout of James Gunn’s Superman reboot on July 11”.
That’s bad news for Aussie fans eagerly awaiting the new adventure – and I include myself in that category.
The case is set for June 4 where it will be determined if the injunction will be granted. While most experts believe it won’t be, stranger things have happened.
I’ll keep you updated.
NINE STANDS DOWN REPORTER FOR BIZARRE REASON
Plenty of questions are being asked around Channel 9’s North Sydney bunker over the appalling treatment of sports journalist Michael Chammas.
According to The Daily Telegraph Chammas was kicked off Channel 9’s 100% Footy show after Parramatta Eels star Mitchell Moses threatened to cancel his scheduled appearance if Chammas was on the panel.
The request was made through his manager, Isaac Moses.
As per the article:
“Nine entertainment – that described itself as ‘Independent Always’ bowed to the manager’s wishes and pulled Chammas off the show”.
Apparently, there’s bad blood between Isaac Moses and Chammas, which is why Chammas says he expected to sit out of the panel when Mitchell was on but return after his segment.
“But the decision was made that even after Mitchell left, it would be better that, that Danny (Weidler) was on,” Chammas told the Triple M Rocks Footy podcast.
You can hear his comments in the video player above.
So even though Chammas was willing to sit it out until the end of segment with Mitchell, his manager didn’t want him to be part of the show at all.
And he got his way.
That’s a lot of power one man holds over the Nine Network.
“What annoys me is I could see what Isaac was doing and he does it with clubs (too),” Chammas continued when asked if he was annoyed.
It’s one thing for a powerful manager to pull their weight but it’s another thing for Channel 9 to allow itself to be bullied. NRL player managers now know the network will cave to any demands in order to get access to players.
That’s a dangerous precedent.
In the first year of Studio 10, Anthony Callea was booked to appear on the show and we promoted it.
With less than 24 hours’ notice, we received a phone call from his manager informing us the appearance was cancelled so that Anthony could appear on rival Channel 9.
We pushed back and told them they couldn’t do that as we booked him first.
The manager didn’t care as Channel 9 had bigger ratings at the time.
We soon overtook them but that’s another story.
I warned the manager that if Anthony appeared on Channel 9 that morning he would never appear on Studio 10 while I was the executive producer.
The manager laughed and didn’t believe me.
To me it was an easy decision – don’t allow yourself to be treated like a second-class citizen.
Anthony appeared on Channel 9 and, true to my word, he never appeared on Studio 10 for the five years I was running the show.
Let me be clear, this was nothing to do with Anthony – he suffered because of the decision of his then manager.
That one decision set the tone and managers knew they couldn’t treat the show like a second-class citizen.
It led to us booking great guests and quickly increasing our audience.
There’s no doubt the producers at Nine were thinking about the short-term benefits of booking a great guest for their show, but what they’ve done is hand over all their power and shown they don’t protect their own.
By allowing one of their cast to be dropped at the whim of a player’s manager, it shows a lack of backbone and a lack of respect for their staff.
WOKE v WOKE
You have to feel sorry for those on the progressive left who fall victim to the vitriol of those they support.
Take the case of ABC Melbourne radio presenter Bob Murphy.
The former AFL Western Bulldogs star is often described as ‘woke’.
When he referred to the men’s competition as ‘AFLM’ in a recent newspaper column in a bid to separate it from the women’s AFLW, he was cheered on by some but mostly ridiculed for his use of the term.
So, here’s a guy who believes in equality and inclusivity, despite whatever backlash he might receive.
But did any of that matter when Murphy made a silly joke while on air with Sharnelle Vella when he insinuated that she worked at Melbourne strip club Spearmint Rhino?
No, no it didn’t.
Not only was he forced to issue a grovelling apology, but those who he had stood up for were quick to turn on him, labelling him misogynistic.
It turns out you can’t bank any good will with the woke brigade.
If you make one mistake you become the enemy – and this is a take-no-prisoners situation.
Jessica Rowe suffered a similar fate back in 2021 when she dared to interview Pauline Hanson for her podcast – The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show.
The left turned on Rowe and she pulled the episode after a massive backlash, despite doing nothing wrong – she was simply talking to an elected official.
Rowe made the point that she didn’t agree with Hanson’s politics but she was accused of platforming the One Nation leader.
The thing I don’t understand to this very day is that if you ever watched just one episode of Studio 10, you would know Jess is a kind-hearted big leftie.
So, even if she had made the wrong call by interviewing Hanson (which I don’t believe she did), didn’t she deserve a pass?
Didn’t she deserve some kindness for all the people she had stood up for, all the left issues she had supported?
Apparently not.
Turns out you are only embraced by those on the extreme left until you dare step out of line – whether you actually have stepped out of line is questionable, but it’s whether they BELIEVE you have.
Bob Murphy is a progressive leftie – some call that woke – whatever it is, it’s fair enough.
It’s just a shame that the people and issues he supports didn’t support him after he made a silly joke.
Rob McKnight is a content specialist for 7NEWS and co-owner of TV Blackbox.
Programming note: My internet streaming show McKnight Tonight continues on Saturday at 8pm with hot topics and insightful interviews.
INSIDE MEDIA is published every Monday and Thursday on 7NEWS.com.au.
