Is it time for the State of California to go its own way? Seriously I don’t know the answer to that question. Rarely has there been a culture and governmental entity so mired in dysfunction! The latest news from the land of the left comes from a San Francisco court where the absolutely insane organization “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,” have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit on behalf a macaque monkey, whose image was featured on the cover of a wildlife photography book. Evidently, photographer David Slater had set down his camera and allowed the monkey to take his own “selfie.” The resulting photo of a red eyed, amber smiled, monkey has subsequently become iconic since it was originally produced in 2011.
The primate “Naruto,” lives on a monkey reserve in Indonesia, and PETA claims that he took a “…series of purposeful and voluntary actions…” in the taking of his own picture which entitles him to financial compensation for the theft of his intellectual property… Yes, he was “the intellect behind the photo… let that sink in. The Monkey was the intellect behind the photo. I must admit to certain amount of self-loathing at the prospect of actually making an argument in this case; but if the monkey was so intelligent, why would he be leaving selfies on a stranger’s camera. The fact that the primate doesn’t own the camera seems to me to preclude the possibility of him owning any of the images… And what kind of crazy argument am I making!!!
Ok so let’s assume the monkey wins this insane lawsuit, which by the way, the grievance took place in a foreign country outside the jurisdiction of the court, and awash in all sorts of primates… so assuming the monkey wins, how does one go about locating the monkey in question, and again assuming authorities can locate the beast in question, how would he make his wishes known regarding the proceeds. Ok so maybe we purchase a home and a boat load of bananas and let him live a life of ease. Which begs the next question; how is this life different from life in a zoo?
Our society is a mess! When we can’t even take pictures of the local wildlife without fear of legal reprisals, than all is lost. At least we have someone to laugh at as the basic constructs of society break apart.