Gruen on the Rights of Non-human Animals

“If monkeys can own selfies, what other rights should they have?” asks Lori Gruen, professor and chair of philosophy, professor of environmental studies, professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, writing in Wired. 

Gruen is referring to arresting self-portrait photographs taken by an endangered crested black macaque, which are now at the center of a copyright dispute. As Gruen explains: “At issue is whether the human primate, David Slater, who owned the camera the monkey used, has a legal claim on the image. He wants Wikimedia to take the photograph down on the grounds that it is ‘his,’ but Wikimedia has countered that because the non-human primate took the photo and not Slater, it is in the public domain.”

For Gruen, this matter raises serious questions about the rights of non-human animals. Read the full article here.