# really weird question?! :S



## ashrob (Jul 27, 2007)

if you found a new morph of snake/lizard would it be possible to copyright it so only you could reproduce them and sell them and therefore keep the price extremely high?


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## arvey (Jan 3, 2008)

I think it would be possible. I know breeders of hybrid pigs and chickens for the meat trade protect their genetic lines with gusto


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

probably not its not like its your idea it is a living animal so it hasnt been created, plus it would probably be quite selfish to do so :lol2:
and also people would probably breed them regardless and sell them anyway wether they were "copyrighted" or not :Na_Na_Na_Na: i know i would lol
stu


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## rakpeterson (Oct 10, 2007)

i think legally it is possible but as above, alot of people would do it anyway, there is no real way to enforce it and eventually there would be so many it would be impossible to prove who breed it and that would mean the breeder has just thrown away the money paid to copyright


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

The only way you could do it is to only sell neutered/spayed specimens. Otherwise anyone who buys one can breed it.

*Copyright* does not apply to living animals. 

*Patents*, however, would. If you created something unique - and could prove its GENOTYPE (not phenotype) and prove that its genotype originated with you (i.e. you genetically engineered it) you could patent the animal and anyone who wanted to reproduce your patented animal would have to licence the patent from you. However, if you created a hybrid by normal means - mating an animal of X species to an animal of Y species - this would NOT be patentable as it's a biological process. If the only way to produce the hybrid animal was _in vitro_ - you had to scientifically engineer it - then you could quite possibly succeed at a patent application.

And if you FIND a wild-caught morph... you cannot claim any rights to it. You can refuse to sell any animals of that morph, you could sell surgically altered animals that are incapable of breeding, but anyone who buys an entire animal and breeds it is within their rights to do so because it's a creation of nature, not man.


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

So you'd find very few people would want to buy it, as they couldn't breed from it... So a high price would be pointless!


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## ashrob (Jul 27, 2007)

i fink if i managed to create a bright pink n purple poka-dot leo i would get a high price for it :lol2:


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

ashrob said:


> i fink if i managed to create a bright pink n purple poka-dot leo i would get a high price for it :lol2:


Not if it was prohibitively expensive to buy - and people who bought it weren't able to breed it. 

At that point you're talking about a hideously expensive pet... and most people aren't going to shell out silly money to get a funky-coloured lizard. If they want to buy an expensive PET they're more likely to go for a cat, dog or parrot - something that gives affection back!

For example, I would very much like to have a Leucistic royal python. But I sure wouldn't pay £7000 for a sterile animal... I might pay a tiny fraction of that for a nonreproductive pet if I just wanted the look (I wouldn't say no to a £250 Leucistic that was completely sterile), but I wouldn't drop the better part of a year's wages on a single animal that doesn't love me AND I can't breed to produce offspring of some value.


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## brian (Oct 22, 2005)

Ssthisto said:


> For example, I would very much like to have a Leucistic royal python. But I sure wouldn't pay £7000 for a sterile animal... I might pay a tiny fraction of that for a nonreproductive pet if I just wanted the look (I wouldn't say no to a £250 Leucistic that was completely sterile), but I wouldn't drop the better part of a year's wages on a single animal that doesn't love me AND I can't breed to produce offspring of some value.


 
The way the price on them is dropping you might be able to get a reproductive one for £250 in a few more years

Ie 4 years a go 100k now Bob clark £5k.......: victory:


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## snakedude (Jul 28, 2007)

The simplest option to protect your line is to only sell a single sex of the babies for the first few seasons, I believe this was done with some of the first san Francisco Garter Snakes and Mandarin Rat Snakes, where predominantly male babies were sold.


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## Harrison (Feb 29, 2008)

snakedude said:


> The simplest option to protect your line is to only sell a single sex of the babies for the first few seasons, I believe this was done with some of the first san Francisco Garter Snakes and Mandarin Rat Snakes, where predominantly male babies were sold.


Didn't think of that.


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## Mason (Jan 21, 2008)

thats less to do wiht protecting lines and more to do with the sex ratio of the hatchlings.


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## Squirrel (Oct 23, 2007)

Still good business sense though, a few years ago some french breeders of stick insects went extremes and were breeding some really nice stuff, but were microwaving the eggs for a second or so thus killing the contents ( if they were fertile to begin with! ) they then proceeded to sell tons of eggs, which had an incubation time in excess of 6 months, as the majority of buyers were Joe Bloggs spending their well earned cash on something "special" when hatchtime was overdue and complaints rolled in the basic answer was " How do we know after this time it isn't a fault on your part"

Very Clever, Very sneaky, Very wrong.


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