The man himself, Australian politician Clive Palmer, gives evidence in the copyright infringement case brought against him by Universal Music. Number 8 of 9 episodes in a mini-series where Bruce Tweedie commentates on the evidence presented by both sides.
You’ll find the full transcript below:
Bruce:
Here I am again, after the hiatus of the caravan journey around New South Wales. Let’s get back to the music copyright court case, Clive Palmer versus Universal Music. And today we have an appearance in court by the great man himself.
So this is the much anticipated appearance by Clive Palmer. Although he didn’t actually come to court, he Zoomed, of course. And the main thing he had to say was that one night at three o’clock in the morning in September 2018, the words, “We aren’t gonna cop it anymore,” came to him in a moment of inspiration and he scribbled it on a notepad next to his bed. Now, all you creatives watching this video, take note, Clive gave us a tip. He said it was common for creative people to have a notepad next to the bed. So make sure you do that next time. But, the note is no longer in existence because it was common practice for his staff to throw out his doodlings on the said notepad. There’s another tip for creatives. Make sure you write it down and then make sure your staff throw it away.
Now, Clive did actually have one serious point to make. He said that he wasn’t inspired by the lyrics of Twisted Sister’s song, ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’, but rather by two other things. One being Peter Finch in Network, where he yells out the window, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore.” And the other inspiration came from “Tommy” the Rock Opera by The Who, where there’s a song called ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’, or something like that, something similar. So he argues the point that it’s a common phrase and can’t therefore be in copyright. I think it’s a bit thin myself, because he’s using the song that has the lyric, “We’re not gonna take it anymore,” and he changes it to, “We’re not gonna cop it anymore.” How can you say that’s not a variation?
But the absolute highlight of the day was Universal’s Barrister, Mr. Patrick Flynn, who really got stuck into Clive. He made some quite serious accusations to Clive, including this, “Those answers you just gave are made up.” And Clive says, “That’s not true.” And the barrister also said that Clive’s evidence was a complete fabrication. Now here’s the thing. In my opinion, on the one hand, I tend to agree with the barrister. I think that probably was a fabrication by Clive. He might have actually had an inspiration at 3:00 AM, but I think the inspiration was to change the lyrics of the song. On the other hand, perhaps the judge will rule that he’s correct, that it is a common phrase. It’s possible. Time will tell. Stay tuned.
Please contact us if you need help with music searches or licensing songs for advertising campaigns, or just want to chat about music and advertising. We would love to hear from you! About anything really.
bruce at musicmill.com.au
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-tweedie-musicmill
Website: www.musicmill.com.au
Credit: the opening and closing sequences feature “Strong Hands” from Ben Catley:
The song: https://soundcloud.com/bencatley/stro…
About Ben: open.spotify.com/artist/66OGdUyXn2WSipn6ZYq7id
Disclaimer re copyright and fair use: https://www.musicmill.com.au/fair-use/
