Yoko Ono sues filmmaker over Lennon's song Imagine

Washington (ANI): Yoko Ono is suing a filmmaker for using her late hubby, Beatles legend John Lennon's track 'Imagine' without permission. She is being joined in the suit by son Sean, and Lennon's son from his first marriage Julian, as well as publisher EMI Blackwood Music Inc. Together they are taking the makers of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed to court.

Papers filed at U.S. District Court in Manhattan, New York show that Ono is seeking to bar Premise Media Corporation, C+S Production LP and Rocky Mountain Pictures from further using Lennon's track. However, the producers of the movie are not giving in, stating the fair use doctrine in their argument that allows the use of copyrighted materials for the purposes of commentary and criticism.

In a statement, they said that they were disappointed that a lawsuit had been brought against them. "We are disappointed therefore that Yoko Ono and others have decided to challenge our free speech right to comment on the song 'Imagine' in our documentary film," Contactmusic quoted the studio, as saying.