Oh No! Yoko

As if breaking up the Beatles wasn’t bad enough, now the perennially irksome Yoko Ono is suing Ben Stein. More specifically, she is suing the producers of Ben Stein’s documentary Expelled because they critique the lyrics to the atheistic / darwinistic hymn by Yoko’s late husband John Lennon, Imagine.

In the movie they play a 15 second clip of the song and critique its message.

[CNA]Walt Ruloff, Executive Producer of the documentary and CEO of Premise Media, said the lyrics represent “everything that the neo-Darwinists want. ‘Imagine there’s no Heaven…No hell below us…Nothing to kill or die for… And no religion too…’ That’s exactly what the Darwinist establishment wants to do: get rid of religion.

Now, one would presume that Ono’s lawyers have informed her that such use is well established within the fair use doctrine that gives the public the right to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for the purposes of commentary and criticism. So if she knows this, why is suing?

Ono is suing simply to voice her displeasure at the message that the movie explores. The court system, however, is not a place to make such statements. Be annoying on your own time.

Ben Stein, in his typically sardonic way, turns the table on Ono and asks:

“So Yoko Ono is suing over the brief constitutionally protected use of a song that wants us to ‘Imagine no possessions’?” Stein asked. “Maybe instead of wasting everyone’s time trying to silence a documentary she should give the song to the world for free? After all, ‘imagine all the people sharing all the world…You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the World can live as one.’”

Imagine there’s no Yoko. Its easy if you try.