Palmer’s $1.5m jingle

CONTROVERSIAL billionaire Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay a 1980s hair metal band $1.5m after he ripped off one of their songs without permission.

Mr Palmer was ruled the loser against Universal Music and Twisted Sister in the Federal Court on Friday, as Justice Anna Katzmann delivered a scathing judgment that called Mr Palmer a “most unimpressive witness” and included a subtle dig at his original poetry.

“He was an unreliable witness whose evidence was at times incredible,” she said.

She said Mr Palmer had

“waxed lyrical about his creative side” during the court case. She said he claimed to have regularly published poems that were “considered to be very moving and genuine”, adding that this opinion was “according to his wife”.

Universal had sued him for ripping off Twisted Sister classic “We’re Not Going To Take It” in a knock-off song, “Aussies Not Gonna Cop It”, used to advertise his political party, UAP, in the 2019 federal election. Mr Palmer (pictured) had told the court he composed the work while “deep in contemplation” about “what the party was trying to achieve for ordinary Australians”.

He claimed he wrote “Aussies Not Gonna Cop It” the September before the election, and that his inspiration was the movie Network.

But there were only minor differences between the Twisted Sister song and Mr Palmer’s song, Justice Katzmann said.

“In the face of the evidence it is, with respect, ludicrous to suggest that the UAP recording was created independently,” she said.

Mr Palmer had also argued that the Twisted Sister song was itself a rip-off of Christmas carol “O Come All Ye Faithful”, which was rejected.

In her judgment, Justice Katzmann said Mr Palmer — under the alias Terry Smith — approached Universal about using the song.

But he baulked at the proposed $150,000 fee and requirement for Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider to see and approve the ad before it went to air. So he used the song without permission, the judgment found.

The lawsuit was filed in February 2019 and resolved on Friday, with Palmer coming out $1.5m poorer.

Justice Katzmann also ordered that Mr Palmer remove his parody knock-off from the internet.

The song was used in video ads for Mr Palmer’s political party United Australia Party.

The court had heard Snider worked on the song, released in 1984, over several years.

“The songwriting process is a very emotional process for me; it comes from the heart,” Snider had told the court. “It would be devastating to me if any of my songs … were licensed for a purpose that I consider to be offensive or contrary to my beliefs.”

As well as the $1.5m in damages, Mr Palmer must pay the legal costs of his opponents.