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Federal Court Orders Clive Palmer to Pay $1.5M Damages Over Twisted Sister Song
The West Australian ^ | Thu, 29 April 2021 | Margaret Scheikowski

Posted on 05/01/2021 10:44:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay $1.5 million damages after a judge found he infringed the copyright of American rock band Twisted Sister’s song We’re Not Gonna Take It.

Lead singer Dee Snider contended Mr Palmer used his band’s 1980s hit as inspiration for a song Aussies Not Gonna Cop It, broadcast in a television advertisement for his United Australia Party in the 2019 federal election campaign.

Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay $1.5 million damages after a judge found he infringed the copyright of American rock band Twisted Sister’s song We’re Not Gonna Take It.

Lead singer Dee Snider contended Mr Palmer used his band’s 1980s hit as inspiration for a song Aussies Not Gonna Cop It, broadcast in a television advertisement for his United Australia Party in the 2019 federal election campaign.

But the businessman said the song was actually a rip-off of the Christmas carol O Come, All Ye Faithful.

In the Federal Court on Friday, Justice Anna Katzmann found in favour of Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd and ordered Mr Palmer to pay $1.5 million in damages.

Snider had testified the use of his hit in a political ad campaign was “not good for my heavy metal image”.

(Excerpt) Read more at thewest.com.au ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
I thought parody was fair use?
1 posted on 05/01/2021 10:44:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Let’s check with Weird Al Yankovic... He licenses every single of the songs before he does his parody rendition.

Why? Because fair use says using the song to be critical in review is okay, but making a derivative work, even one which mocks the song (see Eat It by the above artist), is using the original song for commercial gain.

Rationally, if we someday fix our copyright system so that the people (us) get something back for all the protections we extend to creators (them) while we’re still alive to enjoy it (say 20 years) rather than the current 70 years past the end of life for the original creator (the Mickey Mouse rule.)


2 posted on 05/01/2021 11:10:10 PM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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Dee Snider chose to play politics — he chose wrong.


3 posted on 05/01/2021 11:28:32 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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And that’s to say, Dee Snider is an idiot.


4 posted on 05/01/2021 11:29:31 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: nickcarraway

Notice that it said it found in favor of Universal, not Snider. He sold his interest in the back catalogue five years ago. He just came out and said it wasn’t about money because of the way the agreement was structured with Universal (man, I thought it was just a lump transaction; I had no idea how complicated it is, with capital gains over a period of time factored in, etc.). He said he made more off the deal than if he would have if he’d have had direct control. He had an issue with his voice and image being associated with political candidates.


5 posted on 05/01/2021 11:35:05 PM PDT by Viking2002 (When's the appeasement party start? I brought enough white guilt for everyone! [/sarc])
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To: nickcarraway
Snider had testified the use of his hit in a political ad campaign was “not good for my heavy metal image”.

Oh man, that's funny!

6 posted on 05/02/2021 12:36:25 AM PDT by Enterprise
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To: Enterprise

Tranny reasoning


7 posted on 05/02/2021 12:40:25 AM PDT by wardaddy (Let me guess FREEPERS are now salivating over Tim Scott.....so predictable just like talk radio weak)
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To: wardaddy

Twisted Sister’s twisted sister?


8 posted on 05/02/2021 12:45:27 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Der Impfstoff macht frei.)
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To: Fresh Wind; Mr. Mojo

Snider is loud....and not a deep thinker.....never cared much for silly rock besides Zappas meanderings

Cause he and his band were so damn talented


9 posted on 05/02/2021 12:47:50 AM PDT by wardaddy (Let me guess FREEPERS are now salivating over Tim Scott.....so predictable just like talk radio weak)
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To: kingu
Rationally, if we someday fix our copyright system so that the people (us) get something back for all the protections we extend to creators (them) while we’re still alive to enjoy it (say 20 years)

What do you propose?

10 posted on 05/02/2021 12:50:00 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I guess Dee wasn’t going to take it


11 posted on 05/02/2021 3:14:16 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: kingu; All

I think parodies for commercial gain at
least in this country do have to give
credit and royalties to original songwriters, yes.
One parody I remember—Pittsburgh DJ
Jim Quinn’s Undercover Pothole (Alan
O’Day’s Undercover Angel)

What if the song is for charity? Freddie
Boom Boom Cannon did Kennywood Park to the
tune of his hit Palisades Park, written by Chuck Barris. But I think proceeds of
the single went to charity.

Weird Al says he gets permission...Prince
turned him down. McCartney wouldn’t let him do his Live and Let Die as Chicken Pot Pie because Macca is a vegetarian. And
when Al did Yoda, a parody of Lola, Al said on the Dr Demento show that he had to
get, or asked for, permission “from the Kinks—and George Lucas...”

Swinging Erudites spoof of Theme From New York New York:
Dog (bleep) on my shoes
It must have been a stray
You’ve got to watch out where you step
In New York New York
I just rented a pad
200 dollars a day
It’s the size of a Volkswagen
That’s the rent in New York....

It was found the songs Neil Innes did for
The Rutles were a little too close for
comfort to the Beatles so eventually they got some royalties.
George Harrison v Bright Tunes—My Sweet Lord and He’s So Fine
John Lennon vs Chuck Berry/Morris Levy—
Come Together/You Can’t Catch Me


12 posted on 05/02/2021 3:32:04 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: nickcarraway

Hey Dee, you have NO heavy metal image, you never did.
In the vernacular of the 80s, YOUR A POSER.


13 posted on 05/02/2021 4:44:34 AM PDT by TexasM1A
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To: TexasM1A
Hey Dee, you have NO heavy metal image, you never did. In the vernacular of the 80s, YOUR A POSER.

Twisted Sister was a 1970s drag show disguised as a rock show, the New Jersey version of the 'New York Dolls'. Their ever-changing lineup couldn't continue and they got very lucky that MTV and poser "metal" came along in the 1980s so their two hits, "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" could get air play.

To their credit, they were unabashedly posing with the hair and makeup for almost a decade before MTV tried to sell posers to music audiences. I give Twister Sister points for the comedy in the two videos and the classic line "you're old, worthless, and weak" (even if spoken, not sung).

I also give Dee Snider credit for his interview response as to why Twisted Sister didn't reunite and tour again. He commented something along the lines that it's like being a doctor specializing in something that's already been cured.

14 posted on 05/02/2021 6:32:46 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: nickcarraway

This is a case of raiding someone with deep pockets.

Its stealing.


15 posted on 05/02/2021 6:51:07 AM PDT by sauropod (Chance favors the prepared mind.)
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To: nickcarraway

20 years of protection for any creation. Then it goes to the public domain. I’d choose the more limited 8 or 12 years utilized for other things, but especially with literary works, foreign translations can take some time.


16 posted on 05/02/2021 10:20:15 AM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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