Clive Palmer ordered to pay $1.5m in damages for ‘unauthorised’ use of Twisted Sister song

Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay Universal Music $1.5m in damages over the “unauthorised” use of a version of the hit 1980s song We’re Not Gonna Take It by glam metal band Twisted Sister in a political ad.

On Friday, federal court justice Anna Katzmann found Palmer’s political jingle Aussies Not Gonna Cop It, recorded as part of his multimillion-dollar advertising blitz during the 2019 federal election campaign, was a “substantial” reproduction of the Twisted Sister song.

The Palmer version of the song changed the lyrics to: “Australia ain’t gonna cop it, no Australia’s not gonna cop it, Aussies not gonna cop it any more.”