acroyear | the latest on expelled

The latest on Expelled?

Not only did they steal interview time from scientists by lying about the movie's content.

Not only did they steal computer animation by copying from material in science animations from other companies.

They stole their music as well. It seems neither the Killers nor Yoko Ono (who owns controlling interest in John Lennon's songs) gave permission or sold any rights to use their material in the film (under either name, Expelled or Crossroads).

The film includes a short cut of "Imagine". I'm not sure if they're using it some a positive sense ("yay, imagine the peace we'd have if Darwin never existed") or a negative sense because when the song first came out, evangelicals attacked it bitterly for the verse with "Imagine there's no heaven" as blasphemy and put it on the same hit list as every Kiss song and REO song and Styx song out there. If the former, then the irony of using it in a film that otherwise spreads a message for fundies has just broken another meter.

The filmmakers claim they're within "fair use" because they only are using a short excerpt.

Hate to break it to you, guys, but "fair use" says a short excerpt can be used only when making an objective discussion and criticism of the work itself, not "I can use it for anything I want as long as its less than 20 seconds".

If you were in the right, we never would have had to deal with losing so much original material in the WKRP DVD release.

Update: Dawkins says its in the negative sense:

John Lennon's "Imagine" is played (original version) over B&W scenes of what looked like communist China, with a parade of soldiers. I remember a shot of Stalin saluting somewhere in here as well. The part of the song played was of course "...and no religion too...", implying that no religion equals communist China.

so the irony meter has recovered for another hour...