Moral of the story? Keep the squirrel secret. And try to avoid being sued for infringement by Warner Brothers Television, who currently holds distribution rights for Secret Squirrel.
If a monkey wears a suit, is it called a monkey suit or a business suit? Business and monkey being diametrically opposed, would the resulting implosion be a barrel of laughs or a corporate kick-back? Who is laughing all the way to the bank?
Prices for the pieces vary: Paintings by cheetahs, penguins and other species at the St. Louis Zoo go for up to $100 each; Houston Zoo animal paintings command $250 each. But the revenue can be significant. Paintings by brush-wielding seals at the Virginia Aquarium, for example, generated $15,000 in less than two years from gift shop sales in 2007. For a nonprofit organization, every thousand dollars counts, and art by animals can be an important source of income.
But are animals really “artists?” And is this really “art?” That depends on your definition. If art is in the eye of the beholder, then Congo’s sweeping blazes of color can rival those of Jackson Pollock. If your notion of art is an exterior expression of an inner self, then maybe Chandra the Oklahoma City Zoo elephant’s paintings reveal less about her subjectivity than, say, how she might communicate through sounds and movement as the matriarch of a group of elephants in the wild.
But for primates such as Washoe, a chimpanzee who was raised like a human child by American scientists and died in 2007, the case may be different. Like Washoe, a few other primates have lived bicultural lives in human worlds as the subjects of language and cognition research, and can “talk” to us through signs and symbols. We may see something different in their creations, especially when they can title them themselves.
Can we really be sure that it was a squirrel disguised as a monkey? Isn’t it also possible that another animal was disguised as a squirrel disguised as a monkey? This could go on for days since each animal might really be in disguise as another animal disguised as another animal disguised as another animal disguised as another animal… then, finally, disguised as a squirrel disguised as a monkey.
waycyber over 6 years ago
He’s gib-bon to orang-utaning a mornin-g cappucin-o
SumoSasquatch (aka a boy named Su) over 6 years ago
Get out of Frog Applause, too, Bernard. Out!
… or Happy will come hopping after you with murder on his mind.
Howard'sMyHero over 6 years ago
Matter / Antimatter … poof !
SumoSasquatch (aka a boy named Su) over 6 years ago
What has Bernard done to the neighborhood squirrel population? Are they so traumatized by him that they are disguising themselves as spider monkeys?
weeksfive over 6 years ago
https://medium.com/@atarkowski/monkeys-martians-robots-the-non-human-copyright-value-gap-d814c96f3f35
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/07/462245189/federal-judge-says-monkey-cant-own-copyright-to-his-selfie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_dispute
https://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2017/07/appeals-court-skeptical-monkey-selfie-copyright-claim.html
Brass Orchid Premium Member over 6 years ago
Moral of the story? Keep the squirrel secret. And try to avoid being sued for infringement by Warner Brothers Television, who currently holds distribution rights for Secret Squirrel.
Hugh B. Hayve over 6 years ago
Yeah, yeah…everybody’s got something to hide…….
coltish1 over 6 years ago
Boy, what some people will try just to get out of having to work. … Can’t really say that I blame them, though.
coltish1 over 6 years ago
Isn’t that Drew Carey applying for a patent?
Rotifer FREE BEER & BATH MATS ON FEB. 31st Thalweg Premium Member over 6 years ago
Frog Applause™ 1 – Infinite Monkey Theorem 0
Radish... over 6 years ago
All the monkeys aren’t in the zoo, everyday you see quite a few.
Hyping Hens is a new sensation, sweeping the nation.
Linguist over 6 years ago
Maybe not monkeys, but I’ve known several jackasses who’ve obtained copyrights – and a couple of horses asses, too !
6turtle9 over 6 years ago
Just corporatize the monkey, problem solved. It’s the only way to be truly free anyway.
6turtle9 over 6 years ago
If a monkey wears a suit, is it called a monkey suit or a business suit? Business and monkey being diametrically opposed, would the resulting implosion be a barrel of laughs or a corporate kick-back? Who is laughing all the way to the bank?
Arianne over 6 years ago
“I WANT TO CO-
PYRIGHT MY HYP-
HENATION TOO!"
•
I’m seeing Grace the Face chucking acorns and fool’s gold at a frantic Chicken Little.
Sisyphos over 6 years ago
Fractured English in the Pa-tent O-ffice!
I cannot bear it! It offends every grammatical fibre of my Official Grammar Police* being!
*As commissioned by Sister Teresa right here in Froglandia, my primary jurisdiction. And, yet, I cannot cite Sister. The very frog-gods forbid!
Radish... over 6 years ago
Prices for the pieces vary: Paintings by cheetahs, penguins and other species at the St. Louis Zoo go for up to $100 each; Houston Zoo animal paintings command $250 each. But the revenue can be significant. Paintings by brush-wielding seals at the Virginia Aquarium, for example, generated $15,000 in less than two years from gift shop sales in 2007. For a nonprofit organization, every thousand dollars counts, and art by animals can be an important source of income.
But are animals really “artists?” And is this really “art?” That depends on your definition. If art is in the eye of the beholder, then Congo’s sweeping blazes of color can rival those of Jackson Pollock. If your notion of art is an exterior expression of an inner self, then maybe Chandra the Oklahoma City Zoo elephant’s paintings reveal less about her subjectivity than, say, how she might communicate through sounds and movement as the matriarch of a group of elephants in the wild.
But for primates such as Washoe, a chimpanzee who was raised like a human child by American scientists and died in 2007, the case may be different. Like Washoe, a few other primates have lived bicultural lives in human worlds as the subjects of language and cognition research, and can “talk” to us through signs and symbols. We may see something different in their creations, especially when they can title them themselves.
.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/09/07/zoos-make-money-selling-paintings-made-by-animals-are-they-art/?utm_term=.a3637f9bbfa4
lrope over 6 years ago
Can we really be sure that it was a squirrel disguised as a monkey? Isn’t it also possible that another animal was disguised as a squirrel disguised as a monkey? This could go on for days since each animal might really be in disguise as another animal disguised as another animal disguised as another animal disguised as another animal… then, finally, disguised as a squirrel disguised as a monkey.
Nicole ♫ ⊱✿ ◕‿◕✿⊰♫ Premium Member over 6 years ago
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/12/550417823/-animal-rights-advocates-photographer-compromise-over-ownership-of-monkey-selfie