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Yoko Ono Gave No Permission For Creationist Documentary’s Use Of Song

A creationist propaganda documentary called “Expelled” is set to open at various locations around the United States on Friday, creating a stir in the blogosphere. Some bloggers pointed out the use of the late John Lennon’s song “Imagine” in the film, speculating that his wife Yoko Ono had profited from licensing it. However, Yoko Ono’s lawyers have stated that the song was used without permission:

The dustup has already led to both a scathing article and a retraction on the site HuffingtonPost.com, where Wednesday afternoon writer James Boyce took back an article he had posted 48 hours earlier: “I apologize to Mrs. Lennon for my incorrect assumptions and statements in the article below which, of course, I retract completely.”

Word of the song’s appearance in “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” outraged bloggers, who immediately began speculating about why Ms. Ono would allow the song to appear in what they characterized as “creationist propaganda.” (“What else would you expect them to say?” asked Mark Mathis, the film’s associate producer. “They’re absolutely infuriated when anyone dares question their philosophy.”)

“I guess that the $20 million plus the estate earns every year isn’t enough for Yoko Ono,” Mr. Boyce wrote Monday in the Huffington Post, referring to an income estimate printed by Forbes magazine. “Not only does she feel the need to license the song out, she probably held out for the highest bidder.”

But according to a lawyer for Ms. Ono, the filmmakers did not have permission to use the song, for any amount of money.

Ms. Ono’s lawyer, Jonas Herbsman, of Shukat, Arrow, Hafer, Weber & Herbsman, said in an interview Wednesday: “It was not licensed.” With respect to the filmmakers, he says: “We are exploring all options.” It is not clear what remedies if any may be available to Ms. Ono.

The producers of the film claim that their use of only a short portion of the song is protected under the fair use doctrine of free speech

Do you believe in evolution?

[via Richard Dawkins]

40 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - April 17, 2008 at 2:42 pm

Categories: Celebrity News Tags: ben stein, creationism, evolution, expelled, intelligent design, japan, richard dawkins, science, yoko ono

Dakk

What do you expect? They’re obviously not the brightest people in the world, apparent from their belief in flawed logic.
ZoneDaiatlas

More Left Wing Moonbattery from James…

http://www.hanenosuke.com/blog Hanenosuke

Wouldn’t this fall under “copyright infringement” and thoroughly be on the side of the right-leaning promoters of business?
the overthinker

Left Wing Moonbattery? Sounds like something Frank Zappa might name his kids….

Kevin

I was thinking the same thing…literally.

http://surrealu.blogspot.com Claytonian

gotta love when conservatives start applying their labels. And of course I will be labeled a liberal for pointing zone’s illogic out, which I am not.

shazzb0t

‘Do you believe in evolution?’ I wouldn’t say that I believe in it, but I think it is the most likely explanation for our origin.

Belief in science is kind of an odd thing to discuss. Do I think the benefits of science can help the world? Yes. Do I have faith or believe that science is inherently good? Kind of strange question don’t you think?

the overthinker

Belief is very important. We must believe, or the object of our belief no longer exists. After all, people who stop believing in evolution immediately revert to lower life forms, right?

Personally I pray nightly to evolution, using the Biologist’s Prayer:

Oh Dawkins, who art in Oxford,
Hallowed be thy DNA.
Thy tenure come.
Thy books be done,
In college as it is in London.
Give us this day our daily rant.
And forgive us our internet debates,
As we do not forgive those who debate against us.
And lead us not into Creationism,
But deliver us from fundies.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the phylum, and the genus,
but not for ever and ever (for they all evolve)….
RNA.
karumen

Thanks, shazzb0t. That’s exactly what I was going to say. Science is not about belief. Creationists dismiss the Theory of Evolution as invalid because they think a “theory” is only speculation. Well, theory has a more precise meaning in science. Too bad they’re too busy sticking their heads in the sand to pick up a dictionary.

shazzb0t

Unfortunately, those who ‘believe’ in creationism are scared and confused people who see God as a reason to put their heads into the sand to ignore lots of things namely reality. I believe there is a God, but at the same time I’m not so stupid as to believe that all the evidence pointing to a gradual evolutionary process is some kind of hokum the devil put into the hands of researchers over the generations in order to deceive us.

It is disappointing that many of these people will believe any televangelist who promises prosperity and wealth in return for donations over researchers who have spent their entire lives trying to understand the realities of our existence.

the overthinker

I think we need more people like you dissing this sort of movie. As a hard-core fundamentalist atheist, anything I say against it will be dismissed by the Creationists as an attack on religion. But they are less able to counter attacks from “fellow” Christians (or Jews, etc) and end up trying to dismiss them as “not real Christians” or otherwise duped. Considering that the bulk of the audience for this movie is the US, and the bulk of the US is Xian, to have normal Xians speak out against this nonsense and in favour of science is very important: at the moment, the strongest voices seem to be coming from people like Richard Dawkins and PZ Myers, both atheist biologists.
the overthinker

Ah, yes, I had heard of that site. Well worth a visit.

the overthinker

BTW, I do agree that the phrasing “believe in evolution” is not good, and panders too much to the idea that it is some sort of faith. While I know “believe in” refers to more than just religion, it’s generally used in a fairly distinct way – “do you believe in UFOs?” “do you believe in ghosts?” In other words, things for which there is no actual hard evidence, which is most emphatically not the case with evolution.

steve

30 people in Japan believe in creationism

so much for keeping the riffraff out.
klauscore

Yoko Ono rules! It is pretty clear that she would not have given the permission to use the song in such a weired movie.
Random

I thought Ben Stein was some uber left sided guy who didn’t believe in God? I actually thought it was supposed to be some kind of spoof or something when I saw the commercial.

It’s a bit disappointing to see so many people here be so intolerant, though.

the overthinker

Intolerant of what, exactly?

Random

Have you even read any of the comments here? They blatantly bash people simply for believing in something.

the overthinker

Yes, they do. Not all beliefs are created equal. Stupidity should be pointed out. Extreme stupidity in the face of overwhelming evidence is fair game for mocking, especially when it has a sinister agenda as well.

hadji

He was a Nixon speech writer.

TenSigh

“A creationist propaganda documentary…”

Would they have called Al Gore’s ‘documentary’ an ‘environmental extremist propaganda documentary’? I would guess not. Bad form, Japan Probe, bad form.

I’m amazed at the bigotry people have used to comment this film on JP. I guess I shouldn’t be.

And when was the last time anybody came to Yoko Ono’s defense? Isn’t she reviled for the break up of the Beatles? I guess the lesson is if you’re going to attack the right, all bets are off.

the overthinker

This isn’t a left-right issue, unless you consider the Vatican, for example, to be left-wing….

Why do you feel the need to add “extremist” when talking about Al Gore’s film, even though it was not used for this one?

I am personally gratified by the “bigotry” here. Stupidity and ignorance must be attacked.

Canadaguy

You should change the poll to ask if people believe in evolution, creationism or both. It’s too black-and-white of a poll.
http://keithhandy.com Keith Handy

Incidentally, on the topic of “breaking up the Beatles”…

Even if you believed that Yoko had that much influence over the course of Beatles history, and that John had that little will of his own, didn’t her arrival actually coincide more with the transition to a more imaginative, pull-out-the-stops, post-moptop phase, as opposed to the breakup itself a few years later? Why does nobody seem to “blame” her for, say, Strawberry Fields Forever?
Yabangene

“creationist propaganda” — ha, whatever that’s supposed to mean. You probably think the first couple of chapters of the Bible is propaganda, too. Maybe you think God is propaganda.

I’m sure He’s getting a good laugh, too.

the overthinker

Why, yes, I do think both the early chapters of the Bible, most of the later ones, and God are all propaganda designed to control the masses and gain power. Creationism is a lie. And if there were a God, you can bet he’d be laughing at Creationism, unless he were upset that people were deliberately questioning his Creation based on a flawed account.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

Overthinker:

I’m afraid that this video proves you wrong.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bkhQLt1vbWU

the overthinker

That’s quite good actually.
the overthinker

PS: You wrote in your post: “However, Yoko Ono’s lawyers have stated that the song with used without permission:” You probably want to change that first “with”. Or write “the song with uthed without permithion.”
http://www.japanprobe.com James

Thanks

Have with corrected the mistake with you pointed out.

Bruce Smith

The real question is: Why didn’t John Lennon marry a beautiful Japanese woman ? You know I’m just saying…

John Holmes

More like, “Why didn’t John Lennon marry a sane Japanese woman?”

RMilner

Fair use only protects from copyright if the use is genuinely fair. If a part of the song was used as general BGM, it would be a violation.

In Europe, the moral right of the author could be used to overturn some otherwise legal uses of a piece of art.
Pingback: Yoko Ono Sues “Expelled” Filmmakers | Japan Probe
0405

Given the health problems inherent with Teflon and the cover up of those problems, I hope that wasn’t your example of doing good with science. I understand your point, but still, Teflon is awful.
the overthinker

Are you referring to the minor carcinogen scare in its production process, or the possibility of mildly toxic chemicals given off at extreme heat?
0405

I’m trying to think of some way to say it without sounding like a crazy conspiracy theorist, but I can’t, so I’ll just say it: The only reason the scare was/is minor is because DuPont has been working like crazy to cover it up.
the overthinker

The way to avoid it sounding too much like a crazy conspiracy theory is to link to reliable sources detailing this.
the overthinker

What’s his latest again? The God Delusion? It’s certainly worth reading. In my case it was preaching to the converted, but I’m not his target audience. Do a bit of tachiyomi and see what you think first.

If you can find a copy (cough *torrent* cough) of “The Root of All Evil,” that is worth a look as well. Not for Dawkins’ rather too antagonistic interviews (he doesn’t believe so much in giving his opponents enough rope to hang themselves as doing his best to throttle them himself) but for the parts where he just shows the footage of fanaticism. I think his more recent documentary was better actually, but can’t remember the name off the top of my head.
the overthinker

You should also try the book written by cat-lovers called “The Dog Delusion.”

(That’s just a joke….)

Yoko Ono Gave No Permission For Creationist Documentary’s Use Of Song

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