BRITNEY SPEARS and George Bush beware! Your many fans might be eager to clone
you. So says a Californian company that is offering celebrities the chance to
establish copyright over their DNA to prevent unwanted duplication.
鈥淎 lot of people are going to want to clone people they admire,鈥� says Andre
Crump, president of the DNA Copyright Institute (DCI) of San Francisco. In
theory at least, all someone needs to clone their hero or heroine is a few
living cells from them left behind on a glass or exchanged in a handshake, for
example.
For high-profile individuals worried they might fall victim, DCI is offering
to record their DNA fingerprint, check that it is unique and store it. As the
pattern鈥檚 鈥渁uthor鈥�, the client will get copyright protection to prevent 鈥渁ctions
such as DNA theft and misappropriation, cloning and other unauthorised
activities鈥�, claims DCI鈥檚 website.
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At $1500, the price isn鈥檛 likely to deter the glitterati, and Crump
says 10 people have already taken advantage of what DCI鈥檚 press release calls 鈥渁
ground-breaking development on the issue of cloning and the rights of the
individual鈥�. For an extra fee, the company will also try to register the pattern
with the US Copyright Office, although this isn鈥檛 necessary to establish
copyright.
But lawyers dismiss claims that DNA can be copyrighted. 鈥淭his is nonsense,鈥�
says Stephen Barnett of the University of California, Berkeley. 鈥淲hoever is
saying that is ignorant of the term copyright.鈥� The idea that a person 鈥渁uthors鈥�
their own DNA doesn鈥檛 hold water legally, Barnett says. And even if it did, he
doesn鈥檛 think it would give them protection against being cloned.
DCI鈥檚 legal counsel Matthew Marca disagrees. He insists that since clones
will share the fingerprint of the original person, they will be in violation of
copyright. When 快猫短视频 pointed out to Marca that clones are not
exact copies but often contain a new genetic component鈥攎itochondrial DNA
from the egg used to create an embryo鈥攈e seemed taken aback. After a
pause, he responded confidently: 鈥淭hat is some of what will emerge in the
eventual prosecution of DNA copyright.鈥�
快猫短视频 has also learned that the address provided on DCI鈥檚
website at www.DNAcopyright.com, which appears to be a street address, is
actually a commercial postal box. When asked about DCI鈥檚 location, Crump
admitted the month-old company is still negotiating office space and will
outsource all the biochemistry work.
The idea of copyrighting DNA isn鈥檛 new. New York-based conceptual artist
Larry Miller started issuing $10 Genetic Code Copyright Certificates in
1992. These were never meant to be legally binding, but rather to highlight
issues of ownership.
And San Francisco artist Marilyn Donahue has for the past few years been
helping people to 鈥渃opyright鈥� their genome for a little more than the price of a
postage stamp. Her method: simply take a photograph of yourself depositing DNA
from your tongue onto the back of a stamp and mail it to yourself. Self-directed
mail is often used by poets and writers to document the date of a work鈥檚
creation and establish copyright.
Donahue isn鈥檛 bothered that a company is trying to capitalise on DNA
copyrighting. 鈥淚 was kind of waiting for something like this to happen,鈥� she
says. 鈥淚鈥檓 surprised it has taken this long.鈥�
Still, at least DCI鈥檚 fee includes a personalised plaque. 鈥淥ur type of
clients will want something to hang on the wall and look good,鈥� says Crump.
But those seriously worried about being cloned should follow Bill Clinton鈥檚
example. After he had a Guinness during a presidential visit to Dublin, his
entourage reportedly bought the glass to ensure no one got hold of his DNA.