Yoko Ono, widow of former Beatle John Lennon, gives a victory sign at a news conference in Tokyo November 2, 2006, ahead of John Lennon Super Live concert on Saturday. Ono has lost her bid to block the use of her late husband John Lennon's song "Imagine" in a documentary. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Yoko Ono has lost her bid to block the use of her late husband John Lennon's song "Imagine" in a documentary, media reported Monday.

Ono, son Sean Lennon, and Julian Lennon, John Lennon's son from his first marriage, along with publisher EMI Blackwood Music Inc., sued the makers of "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" in April in Manhattan federal court, saying they used parts of the song without their permission.

But on Monday U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein found in favor of the filmmakers based on a "fair use" doctrine.

"That doctrine provides that the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes of criticism and commentary is not an infringement of copyright," the judge said.

The movie, opened on U.S. screens in April, presents a sympathetic view of intelligent design, the theory that the universe is too complex to be explained by evolution alone.

Lennon recorded "Imagine" in 1971 and in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it No. 3 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, according to the lawsuit.

(Xinhua/Agencies June 3, 2008)