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Lawsuit Over Lennon Film Has Florida Ties

POSTED: 9:20 am EDT March 19, 2008
UPDATED: 9:24 am EDT March 19, 2008

The battle over an unfinished documentary featuring John Lennon has lead to a new lawsuit against Yoko Ono and a Florida man.

The lawsuits claims Ono illegally obtained the copyright to a documentary shot of her and Lennon in 1970 by her ex-husband Anthony Cox.

The lawsuit filed last week in Federal Court states that Anthony Pagola, whose last known address was in Pembroke Pines, sold the documentary to Ono without the permission of its rightful owners.

The movie was shot over a three days and is, "the granddaddy of reality shows," said Ray Thomas an executive producer with World Wide Video and is one of only a few people in the world who has actually seen the film.

Court documents say the film shows Lennon playing guitar and piano, singing "Ain’t She Sweet" and "Only You," discussing pollution, touring London, arriving for an interview with the BBC, and is rumored to show him socializing with a man who goes on to be a convicted murderer.

The film itself was recorded on to 24 videotapes, called “Portrait,” and sat virtually untouched until the year 2000 when two men associated with World Wide Video purchased the film.

It was decided the film would be turned into a documentary called, "Three Days in the Life" and Thomas was to produce it. By April of 2005, it was ready to be shown, but just as World Wide Video was going to screen the film the received word from Ono’s lawyers, that she actually owned the copyright and would not allow the public viewing.

World Wide Video pulled the movie and has been fighting to show it ever since.

"World Wide Video is rightful owner of the film," said Ray Thomas in a written statement sent to Channel 9.

Last week, World Wide Video filed a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts claiming Ono illegally obtained the film from a man who lived in Pembroke Pines. The lawsuit claims a man named Anthony Pagola sold the rights to Ono for $300,000 and without the consent of the other members of World Wide Video.

World Wide Video purchased the film for a $1 million.

"Three Days in the Life" was finished without the tapes and it is unclear whether they ever got them back.

What is clear, is that someone is trying to sell some version of the film.

In July of 2007, Channel 9 got a phone call from a man who first offered to bring in a 10 minute DVD of the film.

He would only call himself, "Mr. T."

"Mr. T" said the film needed to be shown to the public because its shows Lennon socializing with Michael Abdul Malik who would later be executed for a murder.

"Mr. T" then alleged the film was wanted by very powerful people including the mob and that the TV station would have to pay for it.

WFTV declined, and never saw the actually DVD but traced the phone call back to an apartment near Americana and John Young Parkway. That’s when an internet search revealed World Wide Video’s attempts to bring just such a movie to the public.

WFTV called the company and the company reported the information to the FBI, which had previously had a case open on the missing tapes. The FBI, wouldn't comment.

As for the newly filed lawsuit, World Wide Video said Ono is aware of it.

Pagola, the one time Florida resident, may have moved.

The production company has been unable to find him.

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