“Monkey Selfie” Case Reaches Final Verdict

The judge in the infamous “monkey selfie” case has ruled that the monkey does not own the copyright to the image (below right).

The case made news due to its unusual nature, and also due to the popularity of the snap, which has been widely distributed.

David Slater’s Photo. Image: Open.Michigan (Flickr)

The case was bought against photographer David Slater by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) who claimed that as the crested black macaque pressed the button on the camera, that this meant the monkey owned the copyright, and all funds from the photo should go to the preservation of macaques in the wild.

Hon. William H. Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the copyright infringement case, arguing that while law can in some cases be applied to animals, he does not believe the Copyright Act should.

A statement from the court read:

Here, the Copyright Act does not “plainly” extend the concept of authorship or statutory standing to animals. To the contrary, there is no mention of animals anywhere in the Act. The Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit have repeatedly referred to “persons” or “human beings” when analyzing authorship under the Act.

Read more here.