Ain't No Monkey Business Print
Wednesday, September 30 2015

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (“PETA”) is suing a wildlife photographer on behalf of a monkey.
 
According to news reports, photographer David Slater was taking pictures of macaques in Indonesia when he stepped away from his camera, and the curious monkeys took control of it and snapped some photos. One hilarious photo, dubbed "Monkey Selfie," was taken by a crested black macaque named Naruto and has become an Internet sensation, in addition to being included in Slater’s “Wildlife Personalities” book.
 
Now PETA is claiming that ownership of the “Monkey Selfie” belongs to Naruto and not Slater. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, PETA contends that "[w]hile the claim of authorship by species other than homo sapiens may be novel, 'authorship' under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq., is sufficiently broad so as to permit the protections of the law to extend to any original work, including those created by Naruto."
 
Slater calls the lawsuit ridiculous. “I am obviously bemused at PETA’s stunt but also angry as well,” Slater said. “This makes animal welfare charities look bad which saddens me, deflecting away from the animals and onto stunts like this.”
 
Source:  cnn.com