NEW YORK - Yoko Ono lost her legal bid today to stop the playing of a 15-second excerpt of John Lennon’s song "Imagine" in a film challenging the theory of evolution.
Lennon’s widow had sued the makers of "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," saying they used the ex-Beatle’s anthem without her permission.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein ruled that the filmmakers are protected under the fair use doctrine.
The plaintiffs, including Ono and Lennon’s sons, Sean and Julian, "have not shown a clear likelihood of success on the merits because ... defendants are likely to prevail on their affirmative defense of fair use," Stein wrote in his decision in Manhattan federal court. "That doctrine provides that the fair use of a copyrighted work for the purposes of criticism and commentary is not an infringement of copyright."
Attorneys from both sides did not immediately return calls for comment.
The movie, which opened on U.S. screens in April and is set for release in Canada on Friday and on DVD in October, presents a sympathetic view of intelligent design, the theory that the universe is too complex to be explained by evolution alone.
At a hearing last month, the filmmakers’ lawyer, Anthony T. Falzone, said that if the judge granted Ono’s request for an injunction against the film, it would "muzzle" the filmmakers’ free-speech rights.
Falzone said the segment of the song in the film — "nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too" — was central to the movie because "it represents the most popular and persuasive embodiment of this viewpoint that the world is better off without religion."
The film, he said, is "asking if John Lennon was right and it’s concluding he was wrong."
Ono countered by saying, "One of the most basic rights I control by reviewing and choosing licenses is the right to say ’no.’ The filmmakers simply looted me of the ability to do so."
The film features Ben Stein (no relation to the judge), an actor and former speech writer for Presidents Nixon and Ford, defending intelligent design.
The defendants were Premise Media Corp. of Dallas, Rampant Films of Sherman Oaks, Calif., and Rocky Mountain Pictures Inc. of Salt Lake City.
