Anti-Evolution Film Makers Sued for Copyright Violations

The AP reported last week that producers of the already controversial film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed are now being sued by Yoko Ono who claims that the film violates copyright laws by using portions of John Lennon's song Imagine in the movie. While the production company Premise Media says that it is protected under the fair use doctrine, Ono's lawsuit says that the way the song is listed in the film's credits inaccurately suggests to viewers that the producers had permission to use it. (Background from Wall Street Journal, April 16). The film's premise as set out by it producers is that "educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – for the 'crime' of merely believing that there might be evidence of 'design' in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance." On Friday, the Fair Use Project of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society announced that it will defend Premise Media in the lawsuit.