Yoko Ono to get songwriting credit for John Lennon's 'Imagine'
The song was released more than 45 years ago.
— -- Yoko Ono's name will soon be added as co-writer on "Imagine," the 1971 song that her late husband and former Beatle John Lennon wrote.
An announcement was made Wednesday at the annual meeting of the National Music Publishers Association. At the event, according to Variety, Association CEO David Israelite showed a 1980 video in which Lennon said that Ono, 84, deserved credit for the song because of her inspiration and influence on it.
Ono, who accepted the honor in a wheelchair pushed by her son Sean Lennon, already is a beneficiary of Lennon's estate, so being named a songwriter won't likely change her income from the song but it will extend the song's copyright, Variety noted.
Songs become part of the public domain 70 years after their creators die. Lennon was shot to death in 1980.