On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a copyright lawsuit brought by a selfie-taking monkey.

The parties in Naruto v. Slater settled last September, but the appellate court refused to grant their joint motion to dismiss, imposing this decision against their respective wills, for no apparent reason other than to repeatedly dunk on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “How do we prevent people (or organizations, like PETA) from using animals to advance their human agendas?” asked the majority in one footnote.

A close-up photo of a Sulawesi crested macaque grinning bolding at the camera went viral on the internet in 2011. According to wildlife photographer David Slater, he had left some of his equipment…

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