Dee Snider, UMG Win Million Dollar Copyright Lawsuit Against Australian Politician
Dee Snider and Universal Music Group (UMG) won a big copyright lawsuit to the tune of $1.5 million against Australian businessman and former politician Clive Palmer for his use of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
Snider took to Twitter and shared, “HALLELUJAH!! Just found out that the copyright infringement of ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ by ‘politician’ Clive Palmer in Australia has been decided MAJORLY in favor of myself as writer and @UMG as publishers! WE’RE NOT GONNA TAKE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT ANY MORE!!”
HALLELUJAH!! Just found out that the copyright infringement of "We're Not Gonna Take It" by "politician" Clive Palmer in Australia has been decided MAJORLY in favor of myself as writer and @UMG as publishers! WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT ANY MORE!!
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) April 30, 2021
Per Australian news outlet ABC.net, “[Palmer] was sued by Universal Music after he used rewritten lyrics in a version of the Twisted Sister song in saturation advertising for his United Australia Party (UAP) in 2019. Despite first seeking a licence to use the 1984 track before abandoning negotiations due to the price, Mr. Palmer claimed his lyrics came to him while contemplating the federal election.”
Australian Federal Court Justice Anna Katzmann wrote in her judgment, “Mr Palmer’s use of [the song] was opportunistic. He saw political and personal advantage in both its notoriety or popularity and the message it conveyed and he thought that he could get away with using it merely by altering some of the words. He was wrong.”
Palmer must also pay for all legal costs and must remove all audio and video of his “rendition” of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” from the internet.
