Drug smuggler Schapelle Corby won’t be allowed to cash in on her Bali saga with a pricey TV deal
WHEN she returns to Australia, Schapelle Corby won’t be allowed to cash in on any TV deal waiting for her. But her life will change dramatically.
National
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THE first exclusive television interview with Schapelle Corby when she returns to Australia this weekend will be worth at least $1 million.
But if the convicted drug smuggler was hoping to cash in on her Bali jail saga, she’s in for a rude shock.
Melbourne lawyer Christian Juebner said Corby won’t be able to profit from her experience — but there may still be ways to spin a buck.
“Schapelle Corby can’t make money as a result of her notoriety ... arising from her offending but other people can,” Mr Juebner said.
“If, ultimately, it’s proved that the money flowed back to Schapelle Corby or she received some benefit — it doesn’t have to be actual money, just some commercial benefit — then the restraining order [on the funds] could be made.”
Media outlets will have an “enormous appetite” for the Corby story, publicist and celebrity booker Max Markson said.
“There is not a newspaper, magazine, radio station or website in Australia who won’t want to sit down with her, talk to her,” he said.
“She will be invited to go on I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! She will be invited to go on all sorts of weird and wonderful programs.”
RELATED: Parole authorities say they will be glad to see Schapelle Corby go
But Mr Markson said it was unclear what price a Corby exclusive would fetch.
“I don’t think there are millions of dollars around in the media to pay for a one-off story,” he said.
“It’s very difficult with some of how the media are doing financially and also some of the laws that will be in place.”
Media outlets can pay for criminals’ stories, Mr Juebner said.
“They’ll just be careful to ensure that the paperwork which they create for that records the benefit not going to the person who’s alleged to have committed the offence,” he said.
In 2006, Corby co-wrote My Story, an account of her life in Kerobokan Prison published by Pan Macmillian.
RELATED: Schapelle Corby engaged in a stand-off with Bali authorities
Her family pocketed $270,000 but the Commonwealth recovered about $128,000 in proceeds in 2009.
“This order related to benefits derived by Ms Corby from the publication of her biography My Story by Pan Macmillan, and from an article published in the New Idea magazine,” the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions said in a statement.
In 2005 Corby was sentenced to 20 years in jail for smuggling 4.1kg of marijuana into Denpasar Airport the previous year.
She was released on parole in 2014 and will be deported to Australia on May 27. Corby has always maintained her innocence.
Nine Network’s 60 Minutes would not comment on whether it was in talks with the Corby family about an interview.
The Ten and Seven networks and Seven’s Pacific Magazines arm, which owns New Idea, were also contacted for comment.
Schapelle’s mother Rosleigh Rose says no deal has been done for her daughter’s return, but left open the option for later on.
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