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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Selfie monkey can't own photo copyright: US court |
| 2016-01-08 |
| [DAWN] A US judge has ruled that a macaque monkey who snapped grinning selfies that went viral last year online does not own the copyright to the photographs. Activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brought the case in the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... on behalf of Indonesian simian Naruto, who shot to fame last year after a photographer published pictures taken by the monkey with his camera. PETA petitioned the court to have the macaque "declared the author and owner of his photograph". But in a preliminary ruling Wednesday, Judge William Orrick said that "while Congress and the President can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act." The photos were taken in 2011 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi by British nature photographer David Slater. He later published a book of his photographs, which included two selfies taken by six-year-old Naruto. As a six-year-old the monkey would also be a minor, which would preclude ownership of the copyright. But the suit was accepted by the court, and it did cost the author money and time to defend, so it did help keep the court system clogged and the nuisance was inflicted. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 1. PETA should be ashamed of itself. Did the monkey consent to participate in this case? No. Those PETA thugs were just using the poor animal for their own selfish purposes. 2. In the US copyright inures when a work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. The "work of authorship" portion is the key here. There needs to be some creative input -- i.e. human input. This is why there is no copyright in a work created by a computer (at least not yet), in a photo taken by accident or in a monkey selfie. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2016-01-08 14:53 |
| #2 So who owns the copyright? For some strange reasons, the media never answered this question. |
| Posted by: Seeking a cure for ignorance 2016-01-08 13:00 |
| #1 If the macaque brought the case on his own, I'd say "maybe". The fact PETA had to do it for him would indicate "no" and they should be beaten and left in an alley for wasting everyone's time and money |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-01-08 10:14 |