Animals In Law: Introduction

Abstract

This essay opens the Special Issue of the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law dedicated to Animality, entitled ''Animals in Law''. It focuses on revealing the principal issues faced in the volume, by positioning the contributors' works into the general theoretical perspectives which shape the social discourse over animals. New Debates, Old ProblemsAnimals have become increasingly prevalent in our modern media. They are endlessly discussed on social networks and talked about in newspapers. On television we see dog trainers at work and vets tending to rare species living in the remotest corners of the planet. In these kinds of texts man is depicted in various ways: as one who looks after the animal, who defends it, who stands by it as faithful life companion, who feeds it and who abuses it. Animals in turn are portrayed as the objects of harassment, but equally as beings that enjoy human affection and with the ability to influence choices. They can even hold rights.In 2011 a macaque in an Indonesian nature reserve made headlines and caused a sensation after a series of selfies it had taken using camera equipment set up by a photographer went viral. The resulting furore was not just a comical (if surreal) tabloid splash destined to make the news as the result of ''inexplicable coincidence'' [1] but the genesis of a real legal test case that implied severe doubt over the very nature of copyright law-indeed, significant questions soon arose about the validity of copyright itself. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), a wellknown animal rights organization, engaged the photographer involved in a legal battle arguing that the macaque should itself be assigned copyright of the image and 123Int J Semiot Law (2018) 31:401-410 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-018-9573-x( 0123456789().,-volV) (0123456789().,-volV)