Mexican Standoff– EXPELLED style

The judge is supposed to rule on Ono/EMIs suit some time this week. This reminds me of one of the best scenes from one of the best movies with the best music:

The Good– David Bolinski. Dude just trying to defend the honor of his company after William Dembski and his grimy ‘Christian’ bandits stole and raped his baby, ‘Inner Life of the Cell’. Trying to carry on after being stabbed in the back by a ‘friend’, Harvard University (saving a rant about those spineless pussies for another post… if its necessary). Just a guy trying to run his own company and share his love of science with the world, in a way thats accessible to everyone. Not made of money, but will fight for his honor.

The Bad– Filthy ‘Christian’ maggots at Premise Media. Lie, cheat, steal just because they can. Theyre on a mission from God, right? Well, at least they have Gods pocketbooks behind them. Trying to bully XVIVO into silence, into acceptance. Giving us all a look into what the world would be like if these ‘Angel Eyes’ were in charge.

The Ugly– An unlikely ally, Yoko Ono, currently decides the fate of The Good and The Bad. For some strange reason, EXPELLED, a movie about how ‘science is persecuting scientists’… not about music, the 60′s, John Lennon, atheism, communism… a movie about ‘science’ NEEDED the song ‘Imagine’ in it… but didnt ‘need’ to ask permission. If she prevails, The Good will have leverage for a settlement with The Ugly, and EXPELLED will fall into the shallow grave it deserves.

But this aint a spaghetti western. Hows this standoff gonna end…

Comments

#1 Coturnix
May 28, 2008

Best 10 minutes ever in the best movie ever with the best movie music ever.
#2 Rev. BigDumbChimp
May 28, 2008

But this aint a spaghetti western. Hows this standoff gonna end…

I don’t know, but there will be plenty of whining and press releases from the Bad regardless of the decision.
#3 Aaron Golas
May 28, 2008

Thanks for reminding me, I have an animation to work on.
#4 Matt Platte
May 29, 2008

When I was a kid, I thought those little cigars would make me look like Clint Eastwood. And I was right: I looked just like a short, fat, acne-faced kid who wore glasses and ill-fitting clothes, smoking a Tiparillo ™.
#5 Michael Svihura
May 29, 2008

Mexican Standoff– EXPELLED style

You know, in Mexico, they just call it a standoff.
#6 Jason Creighton
May 29, 2008

For some strange reason, EXPELLED, a movie about how ‘science is persecuting scientists’… not about music, the 60′s, John Lennon, atheism, communism… a movie about ‘science’ NEEDED the song ‘Imagine’ in it… but didnt ‘need’ to ask permission.

While it might have been nice for them to ask permission, it could actually be the case that they didn’t need to. I’ve seen Expelled, and the usage of “Imagine” is only 10 or 15 seconds, coming on the heels of Ben Stein saying something like “But PZ Myers’s ideas aren’t anything new” and then playing a clip from the song. I interpreted this as the filmmakers essentially saying that both PZ Myers and John Lennon were wrong and that a world without religion would be horrible. Since one of the criteria for fair use is for “criticism” it seems to me that this could be a legitimate case of fair use.

Of course, IANAL, so we’ll have to see how this plays out in the courts, and this doesn’t excuse anything else in the film, but because of things like fair use, using 15 seconds from a song is not, ipso facto, copyright infringement.
#7 karl
May 29, 2008

Yeah I have to add while I don’t particularly enjoy the criticism, the use seems to be fair in terms of criticism. As I think the Expelled (*spit*) lawyer commented, if everyone had to ask Ono permission to criticize 15 lines of one of his songs, no one would be able to criticize.
#8 Barn Owl
May 29, 2008

*agrees with #5*
#9 Doc Bill
May 29, 2008

If Ben Stein had recited or sung the lyrics, then we would have a different story. If Premise had hired a kazoo player to do Imagine, it would be a different story.

But, no. They copy/pasted the whole original piece. They stole the music. Stole it pure and simple. Could have licensed it easy peasy, but didn’t.

We’ll see whether or not the judge agrees with me, won’t we! Then it will be moot.
#10 Geoffrey Alexander
May 29, 2008

One good piece of fallout regarding the XVIVO affair is the number of people who have become aware of this company and their amazing work. I hope that many in the community he serves, who may have just recently become aware of the unsurpassed quality of what they do, will avail themselves of Bolinski’s artistry. Check out the XVIVO site for more stunning examples.
#11 Joshua Zelinsky
May 31, 2008

Weren’t we supposed to have had a decision by now?