PETA’s latest lawsuit far surpasses shenanigans of the past and soars to new heights of ridiculousness.
Their overpaid lawyers are insisting that a monkey should own the copyright to several now famous “monkey selfies”.
An animal … should own copyright … to photographs.
But before we berate PETA for this asinine example of using resources to hurt, not help – let’s get some background info.
British nature photographer David Slater traveled to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in 2011 to take pictures of endangered crested macaques. For one reason or another, he left his camera on his tripod and stepped away for a few minutes.
Not surprisingly the curious monkeys grabbed the camera and started playing with the unattended ‘toy’, pushing buttons and accidentally capturing hilarious selfies. The most famous of which features a macaque named Naturo and is pictured below and entitled “Monkey Selfie”.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals actually think it is ethical to sue on behalf of Naturo and claim that he is the author of his selfies.
In the suit filed in federal court in San Francisco, PETA seeks a court order allowing them to administer all proceeds from the photos for the benefit of the monkey.
Which is just a long phrase for a simple concept: it’s all about the money.
With PETA, it has always been all about the money and will always be all about the money.
“Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt … we are not here to gather members, to please, to placate, to make friends. We’re here to hold the radical line.” – Ingrid Newkirk PETA President and Founder USA Today September 3rd, 1991
So it’s ethical to blatantly throw money down the drain and waste the Court’s time on a selfie copyright lawsuit instead of using said money to save animals.
In their minds it must be ethical to ignore animals like the rhinoceros, Asian elephant, red tuna, and vaquita porpoise, which are all spiraling into extinction while wealthy suits sit in courtrooms blowing smoke.
We’re not the only ones who think so. Slater took to Facebook to voice his opinion:
This makes animal welfare charities look bad which saddens me, deflecting away from the animals and onto stunts like this”
So let’s recap. PETA is trying to: 1) apply civil rights to an animal 2) waste money that could have been used to save animals 3) wasting the Court’s time and 4) become owners of the monkey’s money.
This sh*t is bananas.
And if you agree, don’t be silent. Tell PETA on Facebook or Twitter how disgusting this display of courtroom might really is.
So what’s next PETA – should parakeets have the right to free speech protected under the Constitution?