Wonder if the will cause one of our OWN Monkeys to change his Avatar....

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by BTPost, Jul 13, 2017.


  1. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Federal court to rule if a monkey owns the copyright for its selfie photos
    Updated on July 12, 2017 at 10:13 PMPosted on July 12, 2017 at 7:42 PM
    [​IMG]
    This 2011 photo provided by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals shows a selfie taken by a macaque monkey on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi with a camera that was positioned by British nature photographer David Slater. The photo is part of a court exhibit in a lawsuit filed by PETA.(David Slater/Court exhibit via AP)






    By Associated Press

    SAN FRANCISCO -- A curious monkey with a toothy grin and a knack for pressing a camera button was back in the spotlight Wednesday as a federal appeals court heard arguments on whether an animal can hold a copyright to selfie photos.

    A 45-minute hearing before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco attracted crowds of law students and curious citizens who often burst into laughter. The federal judges also chuckled at times at the novelty of the case, which involves a monkey in another country that is unaware of the fuss.

    Andrew Dhuey, attorney for British nature photographer David Slater, said "monkey see, monkey sue" is not good law under any federal act.

    Naruto is a free-living crested macaque who snapped perfectly framed selfies in 2011 that would make even the Kardashians proud.

    People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sued Slater and the San Francisco-based self-publishing company Blurb, which published a book called "Wildlife Personalities" that includes the monkey selfies, for copyright infringement. It sought a court order in 2015 allowing it to administer all proceeds from the photos taken in a wildlife reserve in Sulawesi, Indonesia to benefit the monkey.

    Slater says the British copyright for the photos obtained by his company, Wildlife Personalities Ltd., should be honored.

    PETA attorney David Schwarz argued that Naruto was accustomed to cameras and took the selfies when he saw himself in the reflection of the lens.

    A federal judge ruled against PETA and the monkey last year, saying he lacked the right to sue because there was no indication that Congress intended to extend copyright protection to animals.

    Throughout Wednesday's hearing, Schwarz pushed back, arguing that the case came down to one simple fact: photographs can be copyrighted and Naruto is the author.

    "We have to look at the word 'authorship' in the broadest sense," he said.

    The judges grilled him on why PETA has status to represent Naruto and said that "having genuine care for the animal" isn't enough to establish "next friend" relationship, which is required to represent the monkey in court.

    The judges did not issue a ruling Wednesday.

    Angela Dunning, an attorney for Blurb, wondered at the possibilities if they do not prevail.

    "Where does it end? If a monkey can sue for copyright infringement, what else can a monkey do?" she said after the hearing.

    PETA's general counsel Jeff Kerr said after the hearing that the group plans to use money from the photos to protect monkey habitats and help people study the monkeys.
    "PETA is clearly representing Naruto's best interests," he said.

    Dhuey said the legal antics were more of a publicity stunt by PETA than a lawsuit. He quipped after the hearing that Naruto made a tactical mistake by not appearing in court.

    "It's like he doesn't even care," he said before walking away from cameras.
     
    M118LR likes this.
  2. Olympic mountain man

    Olympic mountain man just a lonely cook

    you have to be kidding
     
    Ura-Ki, Dunerunner and Tully Mars like this.
  3. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Nothing surprises me when it comes to the 9th circuit or PETA.
     
  4. oil pan 4

    oil pan 4 Monkey+++

    Tax dollars hard at work...
     
  5. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Actually, I heard about this a while back but am shocked it got to the 9th so quick... Since it is the 9th, my prediction is its in the bag if the monkey is a registered Democrat...
     
  6. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    Put the monkey on a stick and be done with it..
     
  7. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    Forgive the thread drift, but it's good to see ya back in the branches G!
     
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  8. oil pan 4

    oil pan 4 Monkey+++

    The monkey should have to testify, in the form of throwing poo at whom ever he wants.
     
  9. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    All I can say is..... [​IMG]

    This world is getting ridiculous....
     
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  10. Legion489

    Legion489 Rev. 2:19 Banned

    I was going to say what standing does PETA have in the case, but then they mentioned that, and it IS the 9th Circus Of Appeals....
     
    Ura-Ki likes this.
  11. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Stepping stones. In time, the PETAfreaks will have animals made "citizens", and given the vote.
     
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  12. 3M-TA3

    3M-TA3 Cold Wet Monkey

    Wouldn't the monkey own the rights to the photo and not PETA? Isn't making profits by selling artwork produced by someone who can't defend themselves be exploiting them? Isn't preventing animals from being abused or exploited PETA's charter?

    I guess PETA now means People for Exploiting Themthere Apeses.

    Time to put down the smartphone and grab my tactical thighbone. Time to go to war against the humans! BTW my real name is Milo...
    upload_2017-7-13_14-33-19.
     
    Legion489, Motomom34, Ura-Ki and 3 others like this.
  13. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    My oh my....being a citizen and having the right to vote don't necessarily follow: well, not immediately. Women hadn't been permitted to vote for quite some centuries, even though they were considered 'citizens'.

    Milo Yiannopoulos??? How primitive can one be??
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2017
  14. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    I believe that a copyright can be owned by a person or institution.
    I'm thinking that the monkey is neither.
    But we may have to have the SCOTUS rule on whether the monkey is a person first.
    And if they rule them to be a person, well there is going to be an issue with indentured servitude of these persons as we have confined them to prisons (aka zoos) and forced them to perform public displays of interacting with their surroundings without compensation. Then there will be lawsuits regarding being involuntarily imprisoned. ACLU will get involved due to numerous and egregious civil right violations. OSHA will get involved regarding working conditions ..

    This is going to be a great big mess.

    Only the lawyers will be able to figure this out and it might take decades to resolve.

    So our resident monkey might as well keep his avatar.
     
    Ganado, oldawg, Ura-Ki and 2 others like this.
  15. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    If the legal fiction can be created that a Corporation be considered a person, for the purpose of entering into contracts, initiating and defending law suits, raising capital etc....then there is no logical reason why the same status couldn't be extended to a monkey with appropriate legal representation. ;)
     
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  16. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    But if they decide to extend it to monkeys .. they will be opening up a can of worms.
    Lawsuits for wrongful death due to drug trials, Albert and Albert II being sent into space against their will and dying due to suffocation and injuries received upon impact respectively. Oh yeah, lots of lawsuits to follow.
     
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  17. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    Yeah and look how well that's turned out..[LMAO]
     
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  18. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    Avatars are personal memes....
    What happened to the last news network that attacked a meme?
     
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  19. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    I heard he voted for Hilary...

    Rancher
     
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  20. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Monkeys are people too ya know....and if oppressed...WILL fight back!

     
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