The Australian public broadcaster ABC will send a warning letter before suing the right-wing populist party One Nation over its use of the character Bluey in a cartoon, ABC chief executive Hugh Marks said.
Marks told the Senate estimates committee on Tuesday that he had learned of the potential intellectual property infringement by One Nation last week and had sought legal advice. "We will take further steps, I assure you," he told the senators. He added that he believed it was a clear breach of intellectual property and that a "warning letter needs to be issued before litigation".
In the disputed cartoon, the character Bluey repeatedly drives an SUV into politicians. The animation shows Bluey at the wheel, hitting a depiction of former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as well as TV presenter and conservationist Robert Irwin. Before being run over, the character of Albanese tells Bluey: "You've got that crazy look in your eyes." In one scene of the three-minute video, Andrews is at the wheel, Albanese is the passenger, and the car deliberately drives over Bluey and Irwin. The politicians are then shown placing the bodies of Bluey and Irwin in the boot of the SUV.
Marks revealed that the ABC had been in contact with Bluey's international distributor, BBC Studios, and Brisbane-based creators Ludo. He stated that the party led by Pauline Hanson had not sought permission to use the children's character from the hit series. "It is not a parody of any Bluey work," Marks said. "It is not a fair use of intellectual property. In my opinion, it is an infringement of intellectual property, first of all. But it is also a shocking use of Australia's favourite character." He added: "Actually, probably the world's favourite character in video. It is both shocking and disrespectful to the children of Australia who love that character so much." BBC, Ludo and One Nation were contacted for comment.
The legal dispute came to light after Western Australian Labor senator Varun Ghosh asked the ABC whether it had sought legal advice regarding the 2024 political cartoon titled State of Melbourne. The State of Melbourne cartoon has 1.3 million views on YouTube. "I appreciate it was published two years ago, but it has particular relevance in the last week," Ghosh said. The estimates hearing was held one week after the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines outside her office in northern Victoria, which resulted in her losing both legs.
Marks also spoke to the senators about other matters. He stated that former ABC News director Justin Stevens received a payout of $353,230 because he did not wish to work out his notice period. "After Mr Stevens' resignation, we had the option to ask Mr Stevens to continue working during the notice period or to ask him not to work out his notice period," Marks said. "I considered it important, given what had happened, to ask him not to work out his notice period and to pay him his contractual entitlement to that." He added: "I considered it important to move forward with new leadership. Therefore, I did not want Mr Stevens to continue in that role." Stevens, whose total remuneration for the financial year was $864,394, was replaced last month by Reuters executive director Simon Robinson after a 19-year career at the public broadcaster. His base salary was $529,202, according to the annual report.
Marks also told the senators that "mistakes" had been made in the production of programs by former Four Corners reporter Mahmood Fazal, but that the entire Four Corners leadership had now been replaced. The ABC removed several programs produced by the dismissed biker-turned-journalist due to concerns about his use of anonymous sources. "We conducted a review of Mr Fazal's work and found significant deficiencies in a large part of that work," Marks said. "I think we can have confidence that there are many excellent people working for Four Corners. And with the new editorial leadership, we are clearly very confident in its future." The ABC stated that it is reviewing its editorial guidelines on the use of anonymous sources in light of the Fazal incident. Sally Neighbour, former executive producer of Four Corners, claimed in Monthly that "Fazal's collaborator played different roles in different stories, masked behind a mask". Fazal had previously stated that he stood by his reporting. In July, he said he was "shocked" by the removal of two Four Corners episodes and believed that the ABC's process and decisions "set a worrying precedent for the independence of the organisation and its commitment to journalism in the public interest".
