Monkey selfie copyright case settled after deal reached

A bizarre two-year court battle over who owns the copyright of a
“monkey selfie” which went viral was finally settled on Monday — in
favour of a British nature photographer.

A black macaque with a goofy grin snapped itself in Indonesia
while staring down the lens of camera belonging to David Slater in
2011.

After Slater published the pictures in a book, animal rights
group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a
lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco in 2015 seeking to have
the monkey “declared the author and owner of his photograph”.

PETA said the selfies were taken by a six-year-old called Naruto
on the island of Sulawesi, although even the identity of the monkey
was the subject of legal wranglings.

In filing the lawsuit, PETA argued that “US copyright law
doesn’t prohibit an animal from owning a copyright, and since
Naruto took the photo, he owns the copyright, as any human
would”.

Slater insisted that he owned the rights since he set up the
tripod and walked away for a few minutes, only to find out that the
monkey had grabbed his camera and snapped away.

Following the settlement, PETA wrote on their blog: “As a part
of the arrangement, Slater agreed to donate 25 percent of any
future revenue derived from using or selling the monkey selfies to
charities that protect the habitat of Naruto and other crested
macaques in Indonesia.”

It added: “Naruto and the famous ‘monkey selfie’ photographs
that he undeniably took clearly demonstrate that he and his fellow
macaques … are highly intelligent, thinking, sophisticated beings
worthy of having legal ownership of their own intellectual property
and holding other rights as members of the legal community.”

A joint statement read: “PETA and David Slater agree that this
case raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal
rights for nonhuman animals, a goal that they both support, and
they will continue their respective work to achieve this goal.”

When the copyright controversy erupted, Slater said that the
widespread distribution of the photos online had cost him a lot of
money by robbing his book of potential sales — so it’s unclear how
much money the habitat charities will clear in the deal.

Slater’s company Wildlife Personalities, and the self-publishing
platform Blurb were co-defendants in the case.

AFP

A bizarre two-year court battle over who owns the copyright of a
“monkey selfie” which went viral was finally settled on Monday — in
favour of a British nature photographer.

A black macaque with a goofy grin snapped itself in Indonesia
while staring down the lens of camera belonging to David Slater in
2011.

After Slater published the pictures in a book, animal rights
group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a
lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco in 2015 seeking to have
the monkey “declared the author and owner of his photograph”.

PETA said the selfies were taken by a six-year-old called Naruto
on the island of Sulawesi, although even the identity of the monkey
was the subject of legal wranglings.

In filing the lawsuit, PETA argued that “US copyright law
doesn’t prohibit an animal from owning a copyright, and since
Naruto took the photo, he owns the copyright, as any human
would”.

Slater insisted that he owned the rights since he set up the
tripod and walked away for a few minutes, only to find out that the
monkey had grabbed his camera and snapped away.

Following the settlement, PETA wrote on their blog: “As a part
of the arrangement, Slater agreed to donate 25 percent of any
future revenue derived from using or selling the monkey selfies to
charities that protect the habitat of Naruto and other crested
macaques in Indonesia.”

It added: “Naruto and the famous ‘monkey selfie’ photographs
that he undeniably took clearly demonstrate that he and his fellow
macaques … are highly intelligent, thinking, sophisticated beings
worthy of having legal ownership of their own intellectual property
and holding other rights as members of the legal community.”

A joint statement read: “PETA and David Slater agree that this
case raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal
rights for nonhuman animals, a goal that they both support, and
they will continue their respective work to achieve this goal.”

When the copyright controversy erupted, Slater said that the
widespread distribution of the photos online had cost him a lot of
money by robbing his book of potential sales — so it’s unclear how
much money the habitat charities will clear in the deal.

Slater’s company Wildlife Personalities, and the self-publishing
platform Blurb were co-defendants in the case.

AFP