Clive Palmer knew he needed a licence to use US metal band Twisted Sister's hit We're Not Gonna Take It in political advertisements for his United Australia Party but "flagrantly" infringed copyright and increased the harm by "taunting" the band in public, according to court documents.
Universal Music, which acquired publishing rights to the song from Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider in 2015, filed copyright infringement proceedings against Mr Palmer in the Federal Court in Sydney on February 6 after a month-long stoush with the former member for Fairfax outside court.
Mr Palmer is also facing potential legal action over his unauthorised use of Culture Club's 1983 hit Karma Chameleon – re-imagined as "Palmer Chameleon" – in a mobile phone game promoting his re-election bid.