Judge: Ono owns copyright to rare Lennon footage

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge in Boston says Yoko Ono is the rightful copyright holder of rare, intimate footage showing John Lennon and his family in London in 1970.

Judge Rya Zobel issued the ruling Thursday. Zobel refused to reinstate a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by a Lawrence, Mass.-based company that says it owns the videotapes.

World Wide Video LLC accuses Ono of interfering with its right to use the material. The company says it bought the footage from the man who filmed it, Ono's ex-husband Anthony Cox.

Lennon's widow says she had an agreement with Cox that the tapes would never be used commercially. She says she bought all rights to them from a broker in 2002. World Wide Video says that broker did not have the right to sell them.

Published 6/30/09 by

AP Recording News