Changes
/* Imagine flap */ - Update
{{quotebox|I’ve gotten to know the producers quite well. As far as I can tell, they made sure to budget for lawsuits. Also, I know for a fact that they have one of the best intellectual property attorneys in the business. I expect that the producers made their video close enough to the Harvard video to get tongues awagging (Headline: “Harvard University Seeks Injunction Against Ben Stein and EXPELLED” — you think that might generate interest in the movie?), but different enough so that they are unexposed. [http://www.uncommondescent.com/legal/expelled-plagiarizing-harvard/] }}
==="Imagine flap" flop===
In mid-April, 2008, Yoko Ono filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan federal court, claiming that Premise Media and Rocky Mountain Pictures used a video clip of her late husband, John Lennon, singing "Imagine" without her approval. Ono maintains that the documentary's credits could mislead viewers about her having authorized Lennon's clip. <ref>[http://richarddawkins.net/article,2506,n,n] Yoko Ono sues over use of John Lennon videos</ref>
Premise Media issued a statement on April 23, 2008 regarding the use of ''Imagine'' in ''Expelled''.<ref>[http://expelledthemovie.com/blog/2008/04/23/executive-producers-of-expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-statement-on-lawsuit-by-yoko-ono/]Executive Producers of EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed Statement on Lawsuit by Yoko Ono</ref> In it, they claim that they used a portion of the song under the principles of Fair Use, "based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism." They acknowledge that Ms. Yoko Ono did not license the song for use in the film, but claim that licensing was not required in this context.
On June 2, 2008, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein (no relation to Ben Stein) ruled in favor of the filmmakers under the "fair use" provision.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0231537020080602</ref>