August 16, 2016 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / Litigation

Do Monkeys Have the Same Copyright Interests as Humans?

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is not backing down in its fight for copyrights for monkeys. This fight began about five years ago when a photographer, David Slater, was in Indonesia taking pictures of monkeys when Naruto, a now famous monkey, grabbed his camera to snap a selfie. Since then, Naruto’s renowned “Monkey Selfie” has appeared on websites and in a book.

PETA sued Slater arguing that Naruto has the same rights in his photograph as any human would have in their …

January 8, 2016 Copyright

Quit Monkeying Around! Judge Dismisses PETA’s Copyright Suit in Monkey Selfie Case

If Congress intended to give animals standing in the Copyright Act, “they would have done so plainly,” said California U.S. District Court Judge William H. Orrick III.

In 2015, photographer David Slater published a photo in which a monkey — a crested macaque, to be exact — took a picture of itself with Slater’s camera. PETA sued Slater and his publisher under the Copyright Act, arguing the primate should be “declared the author and owner of his photograph.”

However, in a preliminary ruling on January …

Totally Bananas? Court Urged to Dismiss Monkey’s Copyright Suit

A California federal court was hit with two motions to dismiss Monday, November 10, 2015, arguing that a monkey does not have standing to sue in a United States courtroom. This case relates to the famous “Monkey Selfie” photo that went viral a few years ago (which has already seen its fair share of litigation to date). Yet, it is not a person arguing that they have copyright protection over the photograph this time — rather, it is the monkey’s rights that have allegedly been …