Yoko Ono bid to spike Lennon drug film

Yoko Ono has launched a legal action to prevent a revelatory film of her late husband, John Lennon, being released into the public domain. The movie, which was shot over a three-day period in February 1970, includes footage of Lennon smoking pot and discussing a plan to spike the then US President Richard Nixon with the hallucinogenic drug LSD.

Ono wants to thwart the movie's release not because of the content, which can only enhance the Lennon myth, but because she disputes whether World Wide Video (WWV), a US consortium of Beatles collectors, actually owns the film.

According to court documents, WWV claims it bought the film, which consists of 24 original videotapes and their copyrights in 2000 from Anthony Cox, Ono's husband before her marriage to Lennon in 1969. So far so good, but WWV asserts that shortly after purchasing the videotapes, along with 10 copies, they were stolen. The original videotapes are now held by Ono; her lawyers claim in a countersuit against WWV that she purchased them legally.

"The decision that should be made in the case is who in fact does have the copyright," says Joseph Doyle, World Wide's lawyer. "We're saying that we legitimately own the copyright to this film."