Monkeys, Selfies, and Copyrights, Part 3

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. Copyright Office has now issued a definitive statement on the question of whether copyright can be claimed in a monkey selfie under U.S. law.  Per its newly released public draft of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition, the Office “will register an original work of authorship, provided that the work was created by a human being.”  Citing an 1884 Supreme Court case, the Office states that it “will not register works produced by nature, animals, or plants,” and specifically will not register “[a] photograph taken by a monkey,” or, for that matter, “[a] mural painted by an elephant” (although a “work inspired by a divine spirit” may still be entitled to protection).  Read the full LA Times article here, the full 1,222 page draft Compendium here (the relevant provision is at Chapter 300, Section 306), and two earlier blog posts on this subject here and here.

Reposted from the Los Angeles Times.