Can the forest write a song? Ecuador copyright lawsuit tests ‘rights of nature’.

Two years ago, Robert McFarlane and his friends sat around a campfire in an Ecuadorian rainforest, listening to the cacophony of sounds generated by an ecosystem teeming with life.

“Suddenly, I took out a small notebook from my pocket and began to write down poems,” said the British writer As it happens hosted by Neil Kjoxal. “And from that seed grew a song.”

That composition, called A song about cedars, includes audio recordings of the Los Cedros Cloud Forest, a protected nature reserve and one of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet.

It was written by McFarlane, musician Cosmo Sheldrake, field mycologist Juliana Fourchi, legal scholar César Rodríguez-Garavito and, they say, the forest itself.

They submitted a petition to the copyright protection authorities of Ecuador credit Los Cedros as an official contributor to the song, which includes hummingbirds, hummingbirds, birds, cicadas, frogs, rivers, leaves, and more.

They and other experts say the move could help move the needle forward in the growing movement to secure legal rights for plants, animals and the concept of nature itself.

Ecuador’s Intellectual Property Rights Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This forest already has constitutional rights

The idea of ​​copyrighting forests is not as far-fetched as it might seem, says Rodríguez-Garavito.

In 2021, Ecuador’s highest court suspended plans to mine copper and gold in Los Cedros, citing mining permits. violated the forest’s constitutional rights.

The landmark ruling upheld the “rights of nature” enshrined in the country’s constitution, in a move that some lawyers say amounts to granting the forest the right of a legal entity.

This petition, Rodríguez-Garavito says, is a way to promote that decision.

“Let’s explore other potential rights that can be recognized over the forest. And one thing is the creative rights to the song,” he said.

Rodríguez-Garavito is the founding director of the More Than Human Life (MOTH) Project, which initiated the petition. It is an initiative of the New York University School of Law’s Earth Rights Research and Action Agenda, which aims to reimagine the law in a way that is less human-centered.

MOTH is asking Ecuadorian authorities to give the forest “moral authorship” of the song, citing the aspect of copyright law that deals with attribution rather than economic gain.

If they’re successful, he says, Forest will officially be considered a co-writer of the song, but will not receive royalties.

McFarlane says it was important to aim for moral authorship because it is “inalienable”, whereas royalty rights can be bought and sold.

If they are unsuccessful, Rodriguez-Garavito says they are prepared to challenge the decision in court. But he is optimistic, noting that the copyright office has agreed to consider the proposal, even though it could reject it outright.

Whatever happens, McFarlane says they intend to donate any proceeds from streaming the song to the trust for Los Cedros preservation efforts.

“For us, it’s a philosophical principle that we want to establish,” Macfarlane said, “which is the vast, intense, infinite creative power of the forest.”

Rethinking law

Grant Wilson, a conservation expert who is not involved in the case, said the group’s petition “has the potential to transform the law in a number of ways.”

“If successful, this case may inspire lawyers and legal professionals in various fields to expand their traditional practice to include the voice of nature,” Wilson, executive director of the US Earth Law Center, told CBC in an email.

“The possibilities are huge. Over time, the entire legal system can be rethought to represent all life on Earth, not just humans. Humans are only part of a large, interconnected web of life. Shouldn’t our legal system reflect this reality as well?”

According to him, the movement for the rights of nature operates on several fronts around the world. Perhaps the most famous example, he says, is Naruto, the macaque whose selfies went viral in 2011.

The images sparked a long and highly publicized copyright dispute between wildlife photographer David J. Slater, who claimed the images belonged to him, and the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which claimed they belong to Naruto.

PETA lost this casebut other nonhuman rights efforts have been successful, Wilson said.

The Whanganui River in New Zealand, for example received the status of a legal entity in 2017 through a treaty with several Maori tribes.

And in 2024, an organization called Sounds Rights, associated with the UN gave “Nature” its own artist page on Spotifyusing profits to support conservation projects.

Debut at COP16

Although copyright law is complex, McFarlane says he sees the case as “a very simple thing.”

A song about cedars was written during an expedition to Los Cedros to collect and name new species of mushrooms. Macfarlane, known for his nature writing, was there to research his upcoming book, Is the river alive?

According to him, this song could not exist without Los Cedros.

“The forest absolutely brought it to life,” he said.

Sheldrake performed the song live on Tuesday at COP16, the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, in Cali, Colombia. Macfarlane says it’s a fitting debut.

“We think it’s, you know, really, really important and symbolic as the world gathers at the COP, recognizing that the diversity of life and its flourishing is vital to us and to many species beyond us,” he said.