PETA Has Lost Its Monkey's 'Next Friend' In Its Crazy Copyright Case

from the the-monkey's-uncle-is-missing dept

The ongoing saga that is the monkey selfie lawsuit has continued to move forward, with the lawyers for photographer David Slater filing their brief in response to PETA's. As you probably recall, PETA had teamed up with a primatologist named Antje Engelhardt claiming to be "next friends" for the Indonesian macaque monkey named Naruto, who is alleged to have taken the following selfie with David Slater's camera. Slater has claimed to hold the copyright on the photo for a long time, though he's wrong. But PETA is much more wrong in arguing that it can step in and claim both (a) that there is a copyright on the image and (b) that the monkey holds it. Slater is just wrong about the copyright existing.

Either way, the PETA case was easily tossed out of the district court based on the fact that monkeys can't get copyrights under US law (US laws don't apply to animals unless specifically stated -- this is why farms aren't legally considered murder camps, no matter what some vegetarians might say). And, of course, PETA appealed. And we expect it will go about as well as the district court case. But it may go even worse.

That's because in the reply, Slater's lawyer points out that not only can a monkey not hold a copyright, but also that PETA has even less standing than before, because the primatologist, Antje Engelhardt, has decided she's no longer a next friend of our buddy Naruto, the smiling monkey.

On appeal, the crazy got crazier. Dr. Engelhardt withdrew from the case. That leaves PETA, which does not allege any relationship with the monkey, as the monkey’s sole next friend.

[....]

Two putative next friends filed this action: PETA and Dr. Engelhardt, a primatologist who alleged that she has “known, monitored, and studied Naruto since his birth.” ER 23. It may well be that the relationship with Naruto Dr. Engelhardt alleged is “significant” under Coalition of Clergy v. Bush. However, Dr. Engelhardt moved to withdraw from the case, informing the Court that she “will not continue as a next friend to Appellant in this proceeding.” This Court granted Dr. Engelhardt’s motion, thus leaving PETA as Naruto’s lone putative next friend.

This is a fairly big problem for PETA and its big time (seriously) lawyers from the (previously respectable) law firm of Irell & Manella.

Unlike Dr. Engelhardt, PETA did not allege any relationship with Naruto, much less a significant one. That is a problem on appeal. PETA is now in a position very much like the ballot initiative defenders in Hollingsworth v. Perry, 133 S. Ct. 2652 (2013): a party necessary for standing at the district court is not participating in the appeal. “[S]tanding must be met by persons seeking appellate review, just as it must be met by persons appearing in courts of first instance.” Id. at 2661 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

All of the Naruto relationship allegations in the Complaint concern Dr. Engelhardt; none involve PETA.... PETA alleges no connection to Naruto, an Indonesian monkey who lives roughly 10,000 miles from PETA’s headquarters in Virginia.

In other words, even if Engelhardt had standing, PETA doesn't.

The filing also contains its fair share of monkey jokes, so we'll just end this post with a few of those:

Under controlling Ninth Circuit precedent, monkey see, monkey sue is not good law under any Act of Congress unless the legislative text plainly grants non-human animals standing to sue.

[....]

The only pertinent fact in this case is that Naruto is a monkey suing for copyright infringement.

Either way, one hopes that the court makes quick work of this case as well, but it is 9th Circuit, which perhaps deserves copyright on its... creative interpretations of copyright law at times. Hopefully this isn't one of those cases.

Filed Under: animals, antje engelhardt, copyright, david slater, monkey, monkey selfie, public domain, standing
Companies: irell & manella, peta

DailyDirt: Wolves In Sheepdog's Clothing?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Man's best friend, the dog, has a mysterious and complex relationship with people. Ancient humans presumably domesticated wolves or some other closely related species a long time ago -- perhaps multiple times on different continents. The story of dogs and wolves and people is far from over, getting ever more interesting as we learn more about ancient dog specimens and create more genetically-engineered dogs.

• IVF (aka in vitro fertilization) has been successful for a bunch of different animals, but only relatively recently with canine puppies. Test tube puppies can now be breed to become healthy adult dogs, and the techniques to do doggie IVF could also help bring back distantly-related wolf populations. [url]
• Dogs and wolves can interbreed, suggesting that they are very closely related, if not the same, species. Defining what a species is -- is tricky, and the existence of the coywolf (a coyote, dog, wolf hybrid) makes the pedigree of dogs/wolves/coyotes a bit more complicated than one might have guessed. [url]
• Wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s (after a decades-long absence), and a small population of wolves may have drastically changed the ecosystem and perhaps even the geography of the area. Subsequent studies of the wolves paint a more complex picture of this classic example of "trophic cascade" -- and the role of wolves may not be so directly correlated to thriving beaver populations or the feeding behavior of elk. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: animals, biology, coywolf, dogs, ivf, pets, species, trophic cascade, wolves, yellowstone

DailyDirt: Strange Forms Of Life...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Nature has plenty of surprises left for us. Life exists in some extreme environments that you wouldn't think anything would survive, but somehow little creatures are still thriving in some of the coldest, darkest, most acidic, hottest and just unusual places. Life just needs to be able to feed on something -- light, sugar, electricity. Here are just a few bizarre discoveries in biology.

• Mitochondria are commonly called the "powerhouses" of complex living cells, and biologists have been looking for years to see if there are any examples of eukaryotes that do not have mitochondria. They've finally found an example -- in the gut of a pet chinchilla -- but it is NOT the missing link of eukaryotic evolution. This microbe's ancestors are known to have mitochondria, so this particular organism somehow lost its mitochondria and managed to survive using other non-mitochondrial mechanisms. [url]
• There are a few photosynthetic animals in nature. And if you're really into transhumanism or biohacking, maybe humans can engineer a symbiotic way to metabolize sunlight and forget about eating or breathing. [url]
• Some "electric bacteria" can feed directly on electrons flowing from an electrode. These "electricity breathers" in sediment have been found in vastly different locations in California, and researchers have identified at least 8 different kinds of electric bacteria. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: animals, bacteria, biohacking, biology, biotech, electric bacteria, extremophiles, life, microbes, mitochondria, photosynthesis

Will PETA Now Sue To Control The Copyright In These Cat Selfies?

from the questions-questions-questions dept

As noted recently, PETA isn't giving up in its quixotic quest to argue that it can represent the interests of an Indonesian selfie-taking monkey, and further that the photos in question have a copyright and that copyright belongs to the monkey (and, by extension, PETA). UK IP professor Andrés Guadamuz recently wrote an interesting paper arguing that there is a copyright in the photograph and it belongs to the guy who owned the camera, David Slater, based on UK copyright law. It's an interesting read, though others have convincingly argued the opposite, noting that UK law requires a "person" to have created the work.

Either way, it seems this question may not be going away any time soon. Guadamuz has now also posted an amusing blog post highlighting the next potential battleground: a cat who loves to take selfies. I mean, just look at them. While there are some clearer shots, I think this one is clearly the best, based entirely on the cat's "I'm concentrating here" tongue: Guadamuz notes that it's not entirely clear how much control the cat really has in these pictures, and they may really be the camera owner holding the camera itself, and snapping the photo when the cat is incentivized to reach in. In that case, there's a stronger copyright claim for the original camera owner -- an Instagram user by the username "youremahm". But, as Guadamuz notes, the real question is whether or not PETA will now sue on behalf of the cat.

Filed Under: animals, cats, copyright, peta, selfie cat, selfies
Companies: peta

DailyDirt: This Is Your Brain On Drugs...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Drugs are baaad, mmkay? And it is highly recommended that you NOT take micro-doses of LSD while you're at work. So just don't do drugs. Never. (So that when you do...) And check out all the other animals in the animal kingdom that like to get high -- cuz if everyone else wanted to jump off a bridge, would you do it, too?

• Dolphins are pretty intelligent creatures -- and they apparently suck on puffer fish for fun. Young dolphins ingest a nerve toxin from puffer fish, pass around the fish like a joint, and chill. Marine biologists haven't seen dolphins get the munchies yet, though. [url]
• Catnip doesn't work on all cats -- just about 70-80% of them -- and it only works on cats that are older than 6 months that have reached sexual maturity. Catnip is considered harmless to cats and non-addictive. [url]
• Spiders were first given drugs by scientists in the 1950s -- generating some unusual spider web patterns. Research on this strange topic has continued and has even been done by NASA in the 1990s. Clearly, some drugs have an effect on the motor skills of spiders, but it's not exactly clear what we've learned from getting spiders artificially intoxicated. [url]

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Filed Under: animals, catnip, cats, dolphins, drugs, spiders

DailyDirt: Connecting Brains To Other Stuff

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

If artificial intelligence doesn't seem to be making as much progress as we'd like, there are some other ways to try to create more intelligent beings on demand. If we can't breed smarter animals, perhaps we can make some animal cyborgs to do our bidding. We'll need some better brain interfaces, and it looks like plenty of folks are already working on them.

• Neurobiologists have figured out how to connect multiple brains together by implanting microwire electrode arrays in animals -- and proving two heads are actually better than one. Researchers accomplished this feat with rat and monkey brains (not mixing the species, mind you, that would be crazy...), and they found multiple brains could perform tasks that single brains could not. These 'brainets' could someday be used on human brains... so imagine a Beowulf cluster of human brains? [url]
• A low-cost headset called the Brainwriter can control digital interfaces with thought-detection and eye tracking sensors. It's not exactly a finished product yet, but... similar gadgets could become much more useful in the near future. [url]
• Brain implants might be far less invasive with injectable electrode meshes that can unfurl onto various kinds of nerve or brain cells. Injecting flexible electronics into mice brains via a syringe has been a demonstrated way to monitor brain activity, and researchers might be able to create a brain interface -- so we could create a super-intelligent rat brain network to take over the world. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: ai, animal intelligence, animals, brainet, brains, brainwriter, cyborg, hmi, implants, intelligence, lab rats, smart animals

DailyDirt: Messing With Mice Brains

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The genes that make humans distinct from other animals are being narrowed down. We have a lot in common with other mammals and especially other primates, but relatively tiny differences in a set of genes could explain how human language and intelligence evolved and developed. Understanding the complexity of human intelligence and genetics will likely take decades or longer -- and we may never fully understand every aspect of consciousness. However, we're making some progress and creating some smarter mice along the way. Check out a few of these experiments.

• Injecting human astrocytes (the most abundant cells found in the brain) into a mouse brain actually makes mice measurably smarter. This isn't exactly the beginnings of the rats of NIMH, but the researchers are going to try rats next.... [url]
• Activating a certain gene called HARE5 ("human-accelerated regulatory enhancers") leads to the development of bigger brains in humans -- and perhaps other mammals like mice and chimpanzees. A mouse embryo treated with a human HARE5 sequence developed a 12% larger brain than a mouse embryo with a chimpanzee HARE5 gene. [url]
• Hundreds of mice have been genetically engineered to express the human version of the FOXP2 gene -- a gene linked to speech and language. The resulting mice were able to learn a maze faster than control mice. And are you pondering what I'm pondering? [url]
• The ARHGAP11B gene could be a unique gene for developing modern humans' massive neocortex. Adding this gene in mice gave them larger neocortices and brain folds (mice brains are usually tiny and smooth) -- but the mice weren't necessarily more intelligent. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: animals, arhgap11b gene, astrocytes, brains, dna, evolution, foxp2 gene, genes, genetics, hare5 gene, intelligence, mice, neocortex, nihm

DailyDirt: Animals Behave Like People Sometimes

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Animal behavior is getting more and more attention as researchers discover that our animal friends exhibit emotional responses seemingly similar to ours. It's hard to "prove" animals experience complex emotions or thoughts (in fact, you never prove anything in science... you can only disprove things), but mounting evidence seems to suggest that many animals have reactions that we might predict based on our own psychological knowledge. Here are just a few interesting studies on animals acting like us somehow.

• Do animals worry like we do? Elephants have been observed to suffer symptoms similar to PTSD after traumatic experiences. Traumatized chimpanzees also appear to have mood and anxiety disorders, and various pet owners have reported anecdotal evidence of domestic animals with separation anxiety and other fears. [url]
• Dog owners probably don't think scientists needed to perform an experiment to determine if dogs feel jealousy, but now there's published evidence for this canine emotion. Not all of the dogs in the study showed signs of jealousy, but a majority did. Anyone want to try this experiment with cats? [url]
• There's actually a "mouse grimace scale" that measures several features such as ear and whisker positions and eye squinting to estimate a distress level for a lab mouse. Researchers have discovered that lab mice react differently to pain, depending on whether men or women are present during a grimace measurement. When men are around, mice seem to suppress their distress. (But it should be noted that it's not just men causing this effect. Items of fabric that have the residual scent of men or male animals also produce similar results.) [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: animals, behavior, chimpanzees, dogs, elephants, emotions, mice, pets, psychology, ptsd

DailyDirt: Arachnids In Unexpected Places

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

It's never fun to walk unexpectedly into a spider web because you didn't see it. And even if you're not a true arachnophobe, it's still a bit unsettling to see a spider scurry across a wall or the floor in the way only an eight-legged creature can. If you genuinely like spiders, then you perhaps these stories on finding arachnids in unexpected places will be fascinating. Otherwise, maybe you'd better not read on.

• There are arachnids on your face. Right. Now. Seriously. Okay, so microscopic arachnids -- distantly related to spiders and ticks -- that live in your facial pores (and on nearly every mammal on the planet) aren't visible to the naked eye and are generally harmless, but still. [url]
• In 2013, in the Brazilian town of Santo Antonio da Platina, spiders built a big web overhead and the spiders crawled around a disturbingly large area where it looked like spiders were just floating in the sky. A biologist identified the spiders as Anelosimus eximius and said this wasn't an unusual event for other cities like Sao Paulo -- so you've been warned, folks. [url]
• Mazda issued a recall for 42,000 cars because the yellow sac spider likes to crawl into Mazda engines through a fuel tank hose and potentially cause a fire. Apparently, these particular spiders like Mazda vehicles because this isn't the only recall issued due to these little guys crawling into Mazdas. Zoom-Zoom! Yikes! [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: anelosimus eximius, animals, arachnids, arachnophobia, biology, car recalls, spiders
Companies: mazda

DailyDirt: Animals Augmented With Technology

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Computers have undoubtedly changed how people live, and as computers get smaller and wearable, they'll only become more and more intertwined with our lives. And it appears that we can't leave our animal friends behind in this technological evolution. Here are just a few projects for getting other creatures addicted to gadgets.

• Second Livestock is a virtual reality environment designed for farm animals, specifically chickens. Imagine a chicken computer interface -- like an Oculus Rift for chickens -- that tricked the birds into thinking they were actually free-range animals when, in fact, they were still caged on an omnidirectional treadmill with a Matrix-like virtual world fed into their brains. There is no spoon, chicks. (And this Second Life adaptation is only a suggestion.) [url]
• Maybe we can start talking to dolphins with technology developed by one of the inventors of Google Glass. Researchers are just starting to hear dolphins "talk" in computer-recognizable whistles, so maybe we'll hear they say, "So long and thanks for all the fish" someday. [url]
• Bonobos controlling a robot sounds like a cool idea, but apparently not $20,000 on Kickstarter cool. Perhaps we're lucky that crowdfunders didn't kickstart a planet of the apes.... [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: animals, bonobos, dolphin, hmi, interspecies communication, oculus rift, second life, second livestock, virtual reality