Calif. Firm Wants to Copyright Your DNA

Aug. 23 -- Want your kids to look like Brad Pitt?

With human cloning seemingly just around the corner, what's to stop someone from plucking a hair from Brad's head, brush or bathroom and obtaining his DNA profile?

That's where the DNA Copyright Institute claims they can help.

President and founder Andre Crump says he wants to help celebrities and average citizens obtain the legal rights to their own DNA profiles. Crump says it's a scary thought, but with human cloning technology just around the corner, it makes sense.

"Just imagine Ricky Martin," he said. "Can you imagine how many people would literally want to clone Ricky Martin? Not necessarily so they can sing like Ricky Martin, but you know that the child is gong to be good looking, you know they're going to be talented in some ways and a lot of people look for that in their children."

Not to mention fans: the ultimate piece of celebrity memorabilia could be a clone of that celebrity.

"Who's the most likely people to be cloned against their will?" he asked. "It's going to be the celebrities. It's going to be the superstar athletes, the superstar models, movie stars, television stars, musicians, singers. It's those people who have the fans who are essentially excitable enough or excited enough to, to try to clone the person of their adulation, so to speak."

Protection: Not Just a Star Thing

The San Francisco company says their "copyright" process could stop DNA bandits before they unleash unauthorized likenesses of celebs. But average Joes can benefit, too, he said.

"We're not just trying to do it essentially only for the celebrities," said Crump. "We want everybody to enjoy this copyright protection and then, of course, add value added services for the celebrities."

However, no stars have jumped to copyright their DNA just yet.

"We've only been up and running for about a week," said Crump, who has an MBA, degrees in French and finance, two patents, and a pharmaceutical background. "But we hope that by the end of the year, we should have successes on all fronts. We think it will be good for society and of course it will be good for the entertainment industry."