Finisher

Your interpretation of fair use is not accurate.

"The practical effect of this law and the court decisions following it is that it is usually possible to quote from a copyrighted work in order to criticize or comment upon it...".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

Ranger

Ah, it'll just come down to what the court says. But I don't think the producers have a case for fair use, because I think the artist name and song title at least have to be clearly identified for it to be a commentary.

Are there any similar cases where the court found fair use?

Jon2

Funny... you say my interpretation is not accurate, then quote a passage that says exactly what I mean. To wit... "it is usually possible to quote from a copyrighted work in order to criticize or comment upon it...". Meaning "Imagine", not a criticism/commentary of some other subject (in this case evolution).

"Expelled" is not a criticism of "Imagine" nor John Lennon, which is what it would have to be in order to use a segment of "Imagine" they way they did. IMHO. I imagine that some people might interpret "Imagine" as having a connection to evolutionary theory, but that's a real stretch.

A court may have to decide this and, if it comes to that, I suspect it wouldn't be in favor of the producers. The only fly in this being that Yoko Ono might have her outraged sensibilities soothed by an out-of-court settlement of sufficient financial proportions.

Finisher

Documentaries use copyrighted content under fair use CONSTANTLY. So long as you criticize or comment upon THE CONTENT you are using and the content is relevant to the material.

"In the case of "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," filmmaker Kirby Dick included 134 clips without paying fees, which would have probably run in the $10,000-$15,000 range for each clip."

So you're telling me "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" is directly a criticism of all 134 films?

Here's what I think you're missing: the lyrics in "Imagine" are used to express godlessness and the film equates evolution with godlessness. I mean, they used 15 seconds worth of lyrics right about when they've got their evolutionist interviewees talking specifically about how evolution lead them to atheism. It's explicit.

Stanford Law School’s Fair Use Project to Represent Filmmakers in Lawsuit Brought by Yoko Ono.

From the above link:

"The right to quote from copyrighted works in order to criticize them and discuss the views they may represent lies at the heart of the fair use doctrine," said Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project. "These rights are under attack here, and we plan to defend them."

The clip of "Imagine," which is audible for approximately 15 seconds, is used in a segment of the documentary in which the film's narrator and author Ben Stein comments on statements made by Myers and others about the place of religion. In the documentary Stein says: "Dr. Myers would like you to think that he's being original but he's merely lifting a page out of John Lennon's songbook." This is followed by an audio clip of Lennon’s song "Imagine," specifically, the lyrics "Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too.""

Trevor

Saw this the other night. Decent; as even handed as any Michael Moore documentary.

See no problem with the use of Imagine, as explained in the post above. Wouldn't have thought twice about it's use if I didn't see it argued here.

chris_sc77

Pretty funny;

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ThQQuHtzHM&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ThQQuHtzHM&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

jeffkjoe

Too funny!

dugan

Let's give credit where credit is due. JasonF posted the same video in post #24.

chris_sc77

sorry, didnt see it there. I thought they just made this recently.

atlantamoi

Curse you Ben Stein. The week this movie came out I made light of it at a dinner with some friends and now my very best friend of 11 years doesn't want to be my friend anymore We got into an email exchange about ID and he was angry that I think a lot of it is hooey. To be honest, this guy is very bright and he's great at debate, but I think it was more of a last straw in that I don't believe a lot of religious arguments anymore. This friend is someone I came to know through church.

He kept putting me off the last three months (since the movie was released) and finally admitted he didn't care to be friends anymore. It's persecution-lite! But with a twist.

Sad.