Intelligent Design outsmarts Yoko Ono.
In an opinion and order issued on Monday, Southern District of New York Judge Sidney Stein found in favor of Premise Media and denied the Lennon clan a preliminary injunction prohibiting Premise from using a 15-second clip of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in their documentary on “intelligent design”.
Ono, Sean and Julian had sued Premise for the unauthorized use of the song.
Premise argued that the lyrics “nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too” was integral to the documentary, as it demonstrated many people’s belief that the world is better off without religion. Premise also argued that under the fair-use doctrine it has the right to comment on these lyrics.
Judge Stein agreed, noting that “the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes of criticism and commentary is not an infringement of copyright.”
While no fan of “intelligent design” and a big fan of Lennon, I can’t help but agree that Judge Stein nailed this opinion. Setting out boundaries of fair use (discussed here and here) is key to helping society understand what is and what is not OK to “borrow” and/or “use.”
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