Yoko Ono, Massachusetts company joust in federal court
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff
A lawyer for a Massachusetts company insisted today that his client owns the rights to 10 hours of documentary footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono filmed in 1970 and hopes to win a federal court battle with Lennon's widow so the world can see it.
"I'm sure there will be a substantial audience for it," Joseph T. Doyle Jr., a lawyer for World Wide Video of Lawrence, told reporters after a five-minute scheduling conference in US District Court in Boston. "We're the lawful owners, and she isn't."
US District Judge Rya W. Zobel has asked lawyers for World Wide Video and for Yoko Ono to make arguments on May 21 on a motion by Ono to dismiss the company's copyright infringement lawsuit against her.
In March of last year, she blocked World Wide from showing "3 Days in the Life," a two-hour film based on the footage, at a private school in Maine. World Wide sued her last month, and Ono filed a countersuit, alleging that she has rights to the footage.
The Globe viewed portions of the film last year. The grainy images on the black-and-white videotapes were shot in February 1970 by Ono's ex-husband, Anthony Cox, in Lennon and Ono's London estate. Lennon was 29 and was to be a member of the Beatles for just two more months.
The tapes capture Lennon in the midst of one of his most creative periods; he's recently released "Instant Karma" and is seen practicing the song "Remember." He is also seen smoking marijuana, discussing how he kicked a heroin habit, and saying he would like to spike Richard Nixon's tea with LSD.
Ono's lawyer, Jonathan Albano, declined to comment after the brief hearing.
