Yoko Ono loses battle with Ben Stein-narrated film

Posted Jun 3rd 2008 6:14PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Law, Scandals

U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein dismissed Yoko Ono's (the former Beatle wife you wish would go away) lawsuit claiming that anti-evolution "documentary" Expelled played a 15-second clip of John Lennon's song Imagine without her permission.

The judge ruled that, were the case to go to trial, it would likely be found that the excerpt from the song fell within fair-use guidelines.

The defendants were Premise Media Corp. of Dallas, Rampant Films of Sherman Oaks, Calif., and Rocky Mountain Pictures Inc. of Salt Lake City, and the film is narrated by Ben Stein, who is intelligent in some areas (business) and less intelligent in others.

Yoko Ono told (subscription required) The Wall Street Journal that "It is a pity that this decision weakens the rights of all copyright owners."

I agree that it's a pity but for a different reason. I would have loved to watch Stein and Ono -- two of the bigger publicity whores of our time -- duking it out in court.

Tags: Beatles, Evolution, Expelled, John Lennon, JohnLennon, Yoko Ono, YokoOno

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-03-2008 @ 8:04PM

al coholic said...

In what area do you think Ben Stein is ignorant?

6-03-2008 @ 10:13PM

K MacPherson said...

Yoko go away..NO WAY.
I wish she would come back her ideas her very futuristic for her time, back some 30 years ago.

Read her book YES, you just may want more not less of Yoko Ono. God knows there is only one so let's enjoy her personal contributions and and stop
confusing the message with the messenger.

K. MacPherson
MuscleGoddess