Clive Palmer Just Lost His Bizarre Legal Battle With Twisted Sister After Ripping Off Their Song
And he's been ordered to pay a shitload in damages.
You will probably remember — because, let’s be honest, how could you forget — that since 2019, Clive Palmer has been involved in an extended feud with the members of hair metal band Twisted Sister.
Well, this saga has finally come to a close; as reported by ABC’s Jamie McKinnell, Palmer has been ordered to pay $1.5 million in damages to the band.
The whole saga kicked off when Palmer used the band’s iconic hit ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ in the advertisements for his revamped political party, albeit while putting his own distinctive spin on proceedings — the adverts, which appeared on television and online, featured the lyrics “Australia ain’t gonna cop it”. Geddit?
Almost immediately, Palmer got into hot water over the use of the song, with the band’s guitarist Jay Jay French tweeting his disapproval. “Twisted Sister does not endorse Australian politician Clive Palmer, never heard of him and was never informed of Clive Palmer’s use of a re -written version of our song ‘Were Not Gonna Take It’,” French wrote. “We receive no money from its use and we are investigating how we can stop it.”
Twisted Sister does not endorse Australian politician Clive Palmer, never heard of him and was never informed of Clive Palmer's use of a re -written version of our song Were Not Gonna Take It.
We receive no money from its use and we are investigating how we can stop it.— Jay Jay French (@jayjayfrench) January 1, 2019
As the legal side of things began to heat up, Palmer embarked on a bizarre defence — he attempted to convince the courts that his version of the song was an “original.” As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald‘s Michaela Whitbourn, Palmer claimed that he wrote the lyrics of what he was by then calling “his” song ‘Aussies Not Gonna Cop It’ while “deep in contemplation” in the middle of the night.
Well, looks like such absurd defences failed. It should be noted, of course, that Palmer is exorbitantly wealthy — $1.5 million in damages will hardly matter to the man who has spent most of his life taking a Willy Wonka-style approach to his finances, burning huge amounts of cash on outsized ideas. But still, it’s nice to bask in the afterglow of this ridiculous scenario at least one last time.