The movie “Expelled” dropped out of the box-office top 10 this week, but is back in the news thanks to Yoko Ono, who has sued Premise Media, the production company behind “Expelled,” for using a 10-second clip of “Imagine,” by Ono’s ex-Beatle husband John Lennon. Needless to say, the “Expelled” folks, who equate the intelligent-design debate with the Cold War in their movie, are doing their best to turn a copyright infringement case into World War Three.

Both combatants, it should be noted, have more at stake than the few seconds of music. Ono has regularly filed suit to protect Lennon’s legacy (even whacking singer Lennon Murphy for using her given name without permission). But since “Expelled” opened earlier this month, a Huffington Post blogger attacked her for allowing “Imagine” to be used (the blogger has since retracted.) Ono, some have speculated, may be suing to restore her good name.
For their part, Premise likely hopes the notoriety of the lawsuit will puff air into their quickly deflating box office. (Like most movies heavily marketed to conservative churchgoers, a big openings weekend is increasingly less surprising and increasingly hard to sustain.) Meanwhile, while busy taking the speck from their neighbors eye, Premise might be forced to remove a graphic from their movie: the company has been accused of using a graphic from an intelligent-design opponent without permission.