Selfie monkey can’t own copyrights of his famous snaps
“SAN FRANCISCO- A macaque monkey who took now-famous selfie photographs cannot be declared the copyright owner of the photos, a federal judge said...
U.S. District Judge William Orrick said... that “while Congress & the president can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act.”
The lawsuit...sought a court order allowing PETA to represent the monkey & let it to administer all proceeds from the photos for the benefit of the monkey, which it identified as 6-year-old Naruto, & other crested macaques living in a reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
The photos were taken during a 2011 trip to Sulawesi with an unattended camera owned by British nature photographer David Slater, who asked the court to dismiss the case...
PETA sued Slater & his... self-publishing company Blurb, which published a book called “Wildlife Personalities” that includes the “monkey selfie” photos.
The photos have been widely distributed elsewhere by outlets, including Wikipedia, which contend that no one owns the copyright to the images because they were taken by an animal, not a person.
Slater described himself as a nature photographer who is deeply concerned about animal welfare...”
Associated Press
nypost.com
January 7, 2016
Cute Critter Pic
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