Archive for June 2, 2008

Stein Says, Stein Wins: Win Some, You Lose Some

In the case of Yoko Ono Lennon v. Premise Media (# 08CV03813), Judge Sidney H. Stein of the Southern District has issued a ruling: Ben Stein wins, Yoko Ono loses.  So you remember, Yoko Ono sued Stein over his “movie” Expelled, which appropriated to its use Ono’s husband’s famous song, “Imagine.”  In the ruling, available here or from CourtWeb, Judge Stein finds the usage of “Imagine” to be “fair use,” meaning that the clip of the song is used to parody or criticize the song, rather than profit from its plain message.

Why?  Expelled criticizes evolution, and criticizes science, not John Lennon.  Well, yes and no.  Judge Stein found that the clip of “Imagine” used, “imagine no religion,” was intended as an ironic use, to parody itself and criticize the sentiment that one can be happy without religion.  The bad news on appeal is that this is a factual finding, and unless erroneous as a matter of law, doesn’t get overturned on appeal.  Ono’s suit ends here.  But, as PZ Myers points out, the damage is already done: the movie flopped, the temporary injunction prevented it from expanding to new theaters at a critical time.  Any chance of growth it had – no matter how slim! – is now gone.  Of course, Stein may now trade on others’ ignorance to profit from DVD sales, but preaching to the choir isn’t really something to worry about.

An inauspicious end to the lawsuit, but let’s look at the big picture.  Expelled started big.  It had us all worried – even the NCSE – but in the end it flopped.  On the other hand, our side, in reacting, put the people on the ground, and passed out the information necessary, to use this as a teaching moment, to start to talk publicly about what science is.  Let’s hope somebody was listening.