John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has won the opening stage of her court action against a former aide to the family.

US District Judge Leonard Sand has ruled that Frederic Seaman was bound by a confidentiality agreement when he was hired by the Lennons in 1979.

Mr Seaman has denied any wrongdoing

Ono has alleged that Mr Seaman violated the confidentiality agreement by publishing a book titled The Last Days of John Lennon: A Personal Memoir in 1991.

She is demanding that Mr Seaman surrender the rights to 374 photographs he took of the Lennon family, turn over some $75,000 (�48,000) from the sale of the former Beatle's papers and pay unspecified damages.

The judge's ruling against Mr Seaman "will prevent him from future exploitation of the Lennon family," said Ono's lawyer, Paul LiCalsi, on Thursday.

'Free speech'

Mr Seaman's attorney, Glenn Wolther said his client "respectfully" disagreed with the decision.

"We believe it violates Mr Seaman's right to free speech," said Mr Wolther.

The former aide has contended he is the rightful owner of the Lennon photographs, because he took them in his own time and with his own camera.

The case stems from a 1999 lawsuit against Mr Seaman, who has had poor relations with Ono since Lennon's murder in 1980.

Lennon was murdered in 1980

In 1983, Mr Seaman pleaded guilty to second-degree larceny for stealing Lennon's diaries and was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to return the property.

Ono has said he is yet to return only all the items and in court on Thursday she laid claim to a family photo of Lennon with their son, Sean, at a Bermuda beach in 1980.

The photograph showed Lennon "was a person", she told the court.

"He was not just an artist, but a family man and a dad," said Ono.