STANFORD, Calif., May 1 , 2008—The Fair Use Project of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society today announced that it is signing on to defend Premise Media's right to use a clip of John Lennon's song "Imagine" in its documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," [www.expelledthemovie.com] for the purposes of commentary and criticism.
The film, released in the United States on April 18, 2008, is about alleged discrimination against people who support alternative theories of evolution such as intelligent design. The song is played for roughly 15 seconds to illustrate and criticize the ideas suggested in it—that the world might be a better place without religion.
Premise Media contends it has the right to use the song under the fair use doctrine, which among other things permits the use of copyrighted material for the purpose of comment, criticism, and discussion.
"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."
Friday, May 2, 2008
Imagine There's no Lawsuit
