Yoko Ono has lost her bid to prevent new film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” from using her late husband John Lennon’s song “Imagine”.
In court, it was Ono’s contention that the makers of the film, which advocates the theory of intelligent design as a proof for God’s existence, did not ask her permission to use “Imagine” and therefore infringed on the song’s copyright.
However US District Judge Sidney Stein said today that if the case went to court then the film-makers would probably win due to the so-called “fair use” doctrine. This segment of US law states that small parts of a copyrighted work may be used without the author’s permission under certain circumstances.
The film argues against the song’s lyrics “nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too”. Both Lennon’s sons – Sean and Julian – were named as plaintiffs in the case.
“Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” was released in the US in April, and has yet to be given a UK release date.
