Clive Palmer loses to Twisted Sister, ordered to pay $1.5m

Clive Palmer will have to pay $1.5 million after losing a copyright fight over his use of hair metal band Twisted Sister’s hit song We’re Not Gonna Take It in political advertisements for the 2019 election.

Federal Court Justice Anna Katzmann on Friday ruled Mr Palmer, who is a former federal MP and founder of the United Australia Party (UAP), breached copyright held by Universal Music.

Justice Katzmann ordered Mr Palmer pay $1.5 million and rejected his defence that the recording used in his ads were created independently of the 1984 hit.

Clive Palmer, inset, has been found to infringed copyright in his use of the Twisted Sister hit We’re Not Gonna Take It. Supplied, AAP

“In the face of the evidence it is, with respect, ludicrous to suggest that the UAP recording was created independently of WNGTI (We’re Not Gonna Take It),” Justice Katzmann said, in finding the song was the source of Palmer’s ads.

“The notion that there is no causal connection between the UAP recording and WNGTI is fanciful.”