A legal fight with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) over the release of documents—including the names of institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) members—has already cost the University of...more
If “Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” It’s been a quiet term thus far for the Supreme Court, due in part to the hearing of oral arguments in many contentious cases. Below is a brief summary of some of the recent...more
Report on Research Compliance Volume 19, Number 9 (September, 2022) - Nina F. Schor, M.D., had been in her job as acting deputy director of NIH’s intramural research program (IRP) for 15 days when she received an email...more
A recently enacted Virginia law amending Va. Code § 3.2-6511.2 imposes strict requirements on commercial dog and cat breeders who sell animals “for experimental purposes,” like research. Senate Bill 87, and its counterpart...more
This summer, a plaintiff filed a class action lawsuit against Allbirds, alleging (among other things) that the company’s environmental claims – including claims about its “sustainable” practices, the “low carbon footprint” of...more
We have previously blogged about ag-gag laws in general and the Iowa law in particular, the last post about Iowa being on January 3, 2020. Animal rights groups such a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or the...more
On June 12, 2020, we blogged about the so-called ag gag law enacted by the Arkansas legislature. Animal rights organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF)...more
Despite having failed to establish next friends standing in Naruto v. Slater, 2018 WL 1902414 (9th Cir. April 23, 2018), PETA recently filed another case based on next friends standing for alleged animal plaintiffs, 30 barn...more
There have been two of the three scheduled listening sessions offered by APHIS seeking comments on regulations regarding the welfare of birds not bred for use in research. A specific schedule for the promulgation, proposal...more
On June 7, 2018, we blogged about the Fourth Circuit’s opinion reinstating challenges to North Carolina’s so-called “ag-gag” law. Such statutes are common. Their objective is to prevent undercover investigations of...more
We have on several occasions, most recently on February 5, 2020, blogged about so-called “ag gag” laws, statutes designed to prevent undercover investigations of agricultural producers. Since that post, the United States...more
We have heard conflicting reports about the potential spread of COVID-19 to and from people and animals, and between animals. Many government and industry officials have stated that there is no evidence that dogs and cats can...more
Last Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals finally put to bed a copyright dispute that many viewed as nothing short of bananas. Naruto v. Slater—dubbed the “Monkey Selfie” case—raised the novel (if not bizarre) question of...more
In People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Case No. 16-5269, released on Friday, August 17th, the D.C. Circuit rejected an appeal by PETA and upheld a lower district court...more
Does anyone think that a monkey has standing to bring a copyright infringement lawsuit? In Naruto v. Slater, 888 F.3d 418 (9th Cir. 2018), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said no, but not without carefully considering the...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in the so-called “Monkey Selfies” case affirming the district court’s dismissal of claims brought by Naruto, a crested macaque, holding that the animal lacked...more
On June 22, 2017, we blogged about the challenge to North Carolina’s “ag-gag” law. The statute provides for actual and punitive damages against a person or entity who engages in an undercover investigation into charges of...more
I confess: I have mixed emotions regarding the iconic “monkey-selfie” photo and all the hubbub it has created. Don’t get me wrong; I think monkeys are wonderful, and the photo deserves its iconic status. Who can resist...more
In Naruto v. Slater, 2018 WL 1902414 (9th Cir. April 23, 2018)-the case in which Naruto, a crested macaque by and through his alleged “next friends,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, sued a photographer and his...more
Animal selfie enthusiasts rejoice – your pet cannot sue you for copyright infringement for reproducing their pictures online under the Copyright Act of 1976. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth...more
The Ninth Circuit was recently faced with a novel issue: Does a crested macaque, or generally speaking, a monkey, have the right to sue humans, corporations, and companies for damages and injunctive relief arising from claims...more
Next time you think of commissioning your dog to create some artwork, you’d better think twice. According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, animals do not have standing as copyright owners to sue for infringement under...more
The Ninth Circuit dropped the curtain last week on nearly three years of litigation waged by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against wildlife photographer David Slater in the infamous “Monkey Selfie” case by...more
Well, it’s official: Naruto, the crested macaque monkey who took photographs of himself while on a reserve on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia in 2011, lacks statutory standing under the US Copyright Act to sue for copyright...more
Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed dismissal of copyright infringement claims brought on behalf of a macaque monkey, Naruto, against a wildlife photographer. The Court found that Naruto had...more