“I think Clive is toast”: Copyright lawyer says Clive Palmer would lose against Twisted Sister in court

Clive Palmer could be facing legal action from US band Twisted Sister, after using a rewritten version of their song “We’re not gonna take it” in his new political ads.

The song can be heard in the background of the ads with new lyrics which state “We’re not gonna cop it”.

Twisted Sister’s manager said on Twitter: 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.

Dr Bruce Baer Arnold, lawyer and copyright expert at the University of Canberra told Heidi Murphy Palmer could be forced to pay compensation to the band.

“I think Clive is toast,” Dr Baer Arnold said.

“What we’ve got here with copyright in the words, so Clive write his own words, but you’ve also got copyright in the tune.

“He’s taking without authorisation, as far as we know without any payment, he’s taken the tune.

“He’s using it and getting a benefit from it, a court would say you’re using someone else’s property without their authorisation you need to provide compensation.

“He appears to just have gone ahead and ripped them off, and he’s not going to win in court on that basis.”

Click PLAY below to hear the details

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No we do not endorse @PalmerUtdParty! We are contacting our legal team to address this and if that doesn’t work…I’LL BE DOWN UNDER IN THREE WEEKS TO DEAL WITH IT MYSELF! https://t.co/h9T2O2GAkQ

— Dee Snider (@deesnider) January 1, 2019

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