Yoko Ono Prevails in Lennon Video Footage Feud

Posted by Matthew Heller

Yoko Ono's litigation load just a got a little lighter. A Boston judge has dismissed claims against her relating to video footage of John Lennon that she does not want the producers of a documentary to show to the public.

World Wide Video of Lawrence, Mass., sued Ono in March after her lawyers sent the company a stop order claiming ownership of the videotape copyrights as it was about to screen "3 Days in the Life" at a private school in Maine. The documentary includes some of the Lennon footage that Anthony Cox, Ono's ex-husband, shot in 1970.

U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel this week granted Ono's motion to dismiss World Wide's claims of copyright infringement and conversion. World Wide has alleged it is the rightful owner of the tapes and that Ono's acquisition of them from a broker for $300,000 was based on fraud.

"Mrs. Lennon is very pleased with the court's swift ruling dismissing the lawsuits against her and, more importantly, that the tapes remain with the rightful owner," Ono attorney Jonathan Albano said in a statement.

Still pending are Ono's counterclaims against World Wide seeking a court declaration that the tapes are legally hers.

In other Ono litigation news, a New York judge is expected to rule shortly on her motion for a preliminary injunction against the use of an excerpt from the Lennon song "Imagine" in "Expelled," a movie challenging Darwinian evolution.