A macaque monkey is the subject of a current lawsuit by animal rights
organization PETA, who claim the famous selfie photographs the monkey
managed to capture should belong to the animal. The organization claim
the macaque monkey in question deserves to be the copyright owner of the
pictures. The suit was filed at a federal court in San Francisco by
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The court
order would allow PETA to administer any proceeds acquired from the
photographs to the benefit of the monkey, which has been identified as
the six-year-old Naruto. The photographs were taken during a trip in
2011 by British nature photographer David Slater. Through the
self-publishing company Blurb, Slater has released a book called
Wildlife Personalities, which features the “monkey selfie” pictures. The
photos, however, have been distributed all across the internet, too.
Slater
previously offered copies of the “monkey selfie” for only the cost of
shipping and handling. He then donated all proceeds to a conservation
project dedicated to helping the macaque monkeys.
