UPDATE:
PZ Myers chimes in:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/04/the_sleaze_is_growing.php
Prefix Mag: The Killers didn't give permission either?
http://www.prefixmag.com/news/update-ben-stein-did-not-acquire-the-rights-to-the/18179/
Expelled Exposed
http://expelledexposed.com/

Reposted from:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120839097431221369.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Having ruffled feathers in the scientific community, the filmmakers behind a documentary questioning evolution theory have now incurred the wrath of one of the most powerful figures in the popular music business, Yoko Ono, and have generated a blogosphere mini-drama in the process.

The flap concerns the film's use of the song "Imagine," by the late John Lennon. Bloggers had accused Ms. Ono, Mr. Lennon's wife, of selling out by licensing the song to the filmmakers. In fact, her lawyers say, she never granted permission for its use.

The movie is set to open Friday on 1,000 screens, according to a press release from Premise Media Corp., the film's producer.

The dustup has already led to both a scathing article and a retraction on the site HuffingtonPost.com, where Wednesday afternoon writer James Boyce took back an article he had posted 48 hours earlier: "I apologize to Mrs. Lennon for my incorrect assumptions and statements in the article below which, of course, I retract completely."

Word of the song's appearance in "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" outraged bloggers, who immediately began speculating about why Ms. Ono would allow the song to appear in what they characterized as "creationist propaganda." ("What else would you expect them to say?" asked Mark Mathis, the film's associate producer. "They're absolutely infuriated when anyone dares question their philosophy.")

"I guess that the $20 million plus the estate earns every year isn't enough for Yoko Ono," Mr. Boyce wrote Monday in the Huffington Post, referring to an income estimate printed by Forbes magazine. "Not only does she feel the need to license the song out, she probably held out for the highest bidder."

But according to a lawyer for Ms. Ono, the filmmakers did not have permission to use the song, for any amount of money.

Ms. Ono's lawyer, Jonas Herbsman, of Shukat, Arrow, Hafer, Weber & Herbsman, said in an interview Wednesday: "It was not licensed." With respect to the filmmakers, he says: "We are exploring all options." It is not clear what remedies if any may be available to Ms. Ono.

In a written statement, the film's three producers -- Walt Ruloff, John Sullivan and Logan Craft -- acknowledged that they did not seek permission, but they called the use "momentary." "After seeking the opinion of legal counsel it was seen as a First Amendment issue and protected under the fair use doctrine of free speech," the statement said. A spokeswoman said under 25 seconds of the song are used in the movie.

Typically when producers want to use a song in a film or television program, they need permission from at least two parties: the song's publisher and the record label that distributes the recording they want to use. Big-name artists often retain veto power over any such uses, and in the case of Mr. Lennon's music, those decisions lie in the hands of Ms. Ono.

The film stars Ben Stein, a Yale-educated lawyer and popular pundit who for the film affects a persona akin to a conservative version of Michael Moore, the provocative liberal documentary filmmaker. According to early reviews and the film's trailers, "Expelled" purports to demonstrate that American academia routinely discriminates against people who espouse so-called "intelligent design" theory -- a proposed alternative to evolution that would allow for the participation of a supernatural force in critical biological processes.

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and others have complained in various public statements that they were duped into participating in interviews for the film. They have said the filmmakers misprepresented the kind of movie they were making. Mr. Mathis, the film's associate producer, disputed that account, saying he personally described the film to interview subjects and even sent many of them the questions he planned to ask.

Bloggers also questioned whether another popular rock group, the Killers, had given permission for the inclusion in the film of one of their songs, "All These Things That I've Done." A spokesman for Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, which owns the band's record label and music publisher, said licenses had been issued.

Write to Ethan Smith at ethan.smith@wsj.com

Update: from James Boyce

In turns out The Killers were duped into having their music and they are mad about it.

Here's the message from their board:

"I just spoke to the band's manager, and adding to the confusion was the fact that they did authorize a project months ago with this request:

Quote:
'The film is a satirical documentary with an estimated running time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, exploring academic freedom in public schools and government institutions with actor, comedian, economist, Ben Stein as the spokesperson.'

What they authorized was a documentary about 'academic freedom in schools', not the film that the producers produced.

They contacted the producers of the film to ask that the song be removed but it is too late. Unfortunately it was misrepresented to them when the request came through to use it. Add this band to a long line of people who were misled by the producers of this film."

UPDATE: Shermer sent this to Ethan at the WSJ, and sent me a copy as well for the site:

Ethan,

I just read your WSJ piece on Yoko and the use of an excerpt from Imagine in the film Expelled, in which I appear. Here is an interesting tidbit for you: In my book How We Believe (Henry Holt/Times Books, 2000), I have a chapter on how religious attitudes changed dramatically in the 1960s, and I wanted to include just four lines from Imagine, which I figured was within fair-use limits. My publisher thought otherwise and insisted that I get permission from Yoko first, so I wrote her, making it clear that the thesis of my book meshes well with the religious attitudes of John Lennon. She turned me down!

So if Yoko wouldn't give me permission to print an excerpt, what are the chances that she'll just let the Expelled folks get away with actually playing an excerpt from the song? I suspect that they are in big trouble now...

Michael Shermer
Skeptics Society