Yoko snubs Lennon's school

Yoko Ono's lawyers have sent UK artist Joanne Shaw a warning

LIVERPOOL, England -- John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono has forbidden an artist from using portraits of the former Beatle to raise money for his old school.

Joanne Shaw, 26, had hoped to use her prints of Lennon to help his former school raise money for urgent repairs.

But after Dovedale County Infant School, Liverpool, had sent Ono one of two prints as a 'thankyou' for an earlier £25,000 ($33,000) donation, Shaw received a letter of warning from her attorneys.

New York-based law firm Shukat Arrow Hafer and Weber explained that Ono held exclusive rights to his image and that Shaw would not be able to use the prints for fundraising purposes.

Shaw, from Castleford, West Yorkshire, in north England, had originally sent the portraits of Lennon to Dovedale after hearing that the school was fund-raising to undertake general improvements.

While one print was hung up at the school, a second was sent to Ono who then instructed her attorney to contact the artist warning her not to produce any further prints to be used for fund-raising.

The letter, signed by Peter Shukat, said: "You should be aware that your deriving your drawing from somebody else's photograph would not be permissible in the law.

"Because of other exclusive arrangements that Miss Ono has with others about using Mr Lennon's likeness in merchandising areas she would not be in a position to grant you the right to utilise your print for fund-raising purposes."

Shaw, who has painted for the Prince of Wales and the Sultan of Brunei, described the response as "totally wrong."

She told the Press Association: "An artist can paint whatever they want. It all started out as a generous gesture to his old school and it's provoked a bit of response from Yoko.

"I find it so sad that someone in her position feels threatened. I am not allowed to paint a picture of John.

"The only way they could object would be if I used the prints to promote a product. It just seems funny that she has gone over the top on it.

"If Yoko has the right to stop me from painting she stops my life so where do you draw the line?"

Her agent, Alan Black, said: "Yoko's attorneys are basically saying that she has broken the law by making a painting up from several photographs.

"They are saying that the image on the photographs are copyright of Yoko Ono. But she (Ono) must have released the photographs into the public domain, through magazines, for Joanne to get hold of them.

"Once it has gone into the public domain no-one has any right to it, except the photographer or the publication it appears in.

"If an artist derives a picture from a photograph then the photographer is the only one who can affect things, either by asking for accreditation or for royalties.

"There isn't an artist going that doesn't work from photographs. We are not breaking the law as we understand it and we are prepared to stand by that."

Hate mail over Beatles sell-off
April 13, 2001
Beatle movie gets back on screen
April 13, 2001
Yoko calls for action on gun violence
December 7, 2000
Early Lennon years chronicled in NBC movie
Decemner 1, 2000
'Spooky' lyrics in Lennon's last songs
October 10, 2000
John Lennon museum opens outside Tokyo
October 9, 2000

Yoko Ono
John Lennon
Friends of Dovedale Infant School
Shukat Arrow Hafer & Weber

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.