REMEMBER that monkey who took a selfie and it went viral?
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Slater also sent an email to Reuters, saying, “I am sympathetic in my book for animals having rights to property in some circumstances, but in no way do I mean copyrights”. According to the wildlife photographer, the curious macaque played with his camera and managed to take a few selfies.
As the previous post reports, the U.S. Copyright Office has stated that a photograph taken by a monkey (or any non-human) is unprotected intellectual property that may be used without permission. “While the claim of authorship by species other than Homo sapiens may be novel, “authorship” under the Copyright Act is sufficiently broad so as to permit the protections of the law to extend to any original work, including those created by Naruto”.
“Naruto has the right to own and benefit from the copyright…in the same manner and to the same extent as any other author”, the suit reads. PETA, however, asserts that the law doesn’t limit copyrights to humans.
Even though the pictures were taken overseas, PETA claims the US has jurisdiction since Slater’s book, including the picture, was published in California. Photographer David J. Slater was taking pictures of endangered crested macaques in Indonesia when he left his tripod unattended for a period of time.
Slater has been openly dismayed by the prolonged dispute over the photos, and says the British copyright obtained for the photos by his company, Wildlife Personalities Ltd., should be honored worldwide.
Last year, as the dispute simmered, Slater offered copies of a “monkey selfie” photo to purchasers willing to pay only for shipping and handling, and said he would donate $1.70 per order to a conservation project dedicated to protecting Sulawesi’s macaques. “I have very little else to offer her”.
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PETA said it hopes to make history and set a legal precedent with the lawsuit.
