There's a lawsuit against a photographer for the copyright's of selfies taken by a macaque.
That's right. A monkey has a lawsuit for his selfies against a wildlife photographer.
A macaque named "Naruto" stole the camera of wildlife photographer David Slater and snapped a few selfies in Indonesian wilderness four years ago which were then put into a book.
And since the macaque can't speak English, PETA is fighting the case on his behalf.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued the photographer and the self-publishing book company Blurb for 'infringing' the copyright of the six-year-old macaque.
PETA believes that the monkey is entitled to the copyright's, all proceeds from the sale, licensing, and other commercial uses of the selfies.
And there's more.
Slater and Blurb, Inc. did file motions to dismiss PETA's suit on November 6th.
Motherboard mentions the motion to dismiss from David Slater:
" A monkey, an animal-rights organisation and a primatologist walk into federal court to sue for infringement of the monkey’s claimed copyright. What seems like the setup for a punchline is really happening. It should not be happening."
Slater also described the monkey who took the pictures as female and not male like Naruto.
The photographer told The Washington Post last year that said he should own the rights to the photograph and that the selfie’s distribution by Wikimedia and Techdirt as public domain was “ruining my business.”
“If it was a normal photograph and I had claimed I had taken it,” he added, “I would potentially be a lot richer than I am.”
If the monkey is allowed for copyright's of the image, could David Slater be allowed to file a lawsuit against the macaque for stealing his camera?
A hearing date has been set for January 6, 2016.
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