Ask Dr. Copyright – FLASH “DOC” Update – Naruto Lacks Standing

On April 23, 2018, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Naruto, the monkey who took a selfie, lacked standing to bring a law suit in under the Copyright Act. “We must determine whether a monkey may sue humans, corporations, and companies for damages and injunctive relief arising from claims of copyright infringement. Our court’s precedent requires us to conclude that the monkey’s claim has standing under Article III of the United States Constitution. Nonetheless, we conclude that this monkey-and all animals, since they are not human-lacks statutory standing under the Copyright Act.”

This, of course, answers a question long-asked: “If an infinite number of monkeys, sat before an infinite number of typewriters, would they eventually produce the works of Shakespeare?”

The answer is: Maybe, but what they wrote would not be copyrightable!