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PETA Isn't Monkeying Around With Copyright Ownership Rights

As we reported in a recent post, PETA lost its efforts, on behalf of Naruto the monkey, to secure his claim to copyright ownership of his "selfie" photograph. The district court judge held that the copyright law did not recognize an animal's right to own a copyright. PETA is not, however, deterred, and it has filed an appeal of this decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Its arguments on appeal are not yet available, but we will update this post when we have further details. Stay tuned.

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Susan Neuberger Weller manages the Trademark & Copyright Practice at Mintz. Susan assists clients with securing and protecting IP assets across the globe. She's worked with clients in a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, software, electronics, and entertainment.