Yoko Ono Gets Her Wish Despite Dropping 'Imagine' Case

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Yoko Ono Gets Her Wish Despite Dropping 'Imagine' Case

Tue Oct 07, 2008 @ 08:16PM PST

By Eriq Gardner

Onoyoko Those copyright infringement lawsuits against Premise Media over an unauthorized clip of John Lennon's "Imagine" in "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" are dead. Previously, a judge denied Yoko Ono's request for an injunction against the anti-evolution documentary. In another case, EMI was denied a similar injunction. Both plaintiffs then decided to drop their case.

Right result, says Premise's lawyer Anthony Falzone, but way too late.

"The mere pendency of these cases caused the film's DVD distributor to shy away from releasing the full film -- the version that includes the Imagine segment," he writes on his blog. "So the film goes out on DVD on October 21 in censored form, illustrating the damage that even an unproved and unsupported infringement claim can do."

Falzone hopes to use this case to solve the fair use dilemma. Perhaps like Stephanie Lenz, they might sue for a baseless copyright claim.

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The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. blog focuses on how the entertainment and media industries are impacted and influenced by the law. It is edited by Matthew Belloni with contributions from veteran legal reporter Eriq Gardner and others. Before joining The Hollywood Reporter, Belloni was a lawyer at an entertainment litigation firm in Los Angeles. He writes a column for THR devoted to entertainment law. Gardner is a New York-based writer and legal journalist. Send tips or comments to [email protected]

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