The picture was taken in 2011 by "Naruto", an Indonesian monkey. Photo: Internet
"The legal battle over the controversial "monkey selfie", one of the most popular images on the Internet, is over, American justice failed in favor of British photographer Dave Slater."
"Slater's lawyers said that the photographer, owner of the camera that the monkey "Naruto" used to take several selfies, agreed to donate 25% of the future income he obtains from the images to charities dedicated to protecting monkeys from Indonesia, however did not say how much money the photographs generated, nor if the photographer would keep 75% of the profits."
"Proponents called on the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the case and reject a lower court ruling that animals can not hold copyright."
"The selfie monkey has left the photographer in ruin"
The process has lasted two years and has left the photographer in ruins.
"I've spent thousands and thousands of pounds on lawyers, I'm losing income and it's depressing me." When I think of the whole situation, I really do not think it's worth it. Everything I did to try to highlight the plight of the monkeys has destroyed my private life ".
Slater
Historical case
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization "sued" in 2015 the photographer representing the monkeys, seeking to control the profits for the selifes taken by "Naruto".
"Lawyers argued that their client's company owns the rights; the photos were taken during a trip to Celebes Island, Indonesia, in 2011, with a camera by Dave Slater."
The history of the image
"The history of photography dates back to 2011 when photographer Dave Slater traveled to Indonesia. Luckily he found a group of 20 monkeys of the black monkey species, which is only found in Indonesia; the photographer gained the trust of the apes and realized that the primates liked to touch their parts; so he decided to place a camera within reach and precisely what happened was the famous image taken by "Naruto" that became viral."
"Later several organizations denied the photographer's copyright and claimed that they belong to the monkey."
This spanish articule was found at http://www.unotv.com/noticias/portal/internacional/detalle/alcanzan-acuerdo-sobre-selfie-tomada-por-mono-en-indonesia-552473/
My personal thoughts about this issue are in favor to the photographer Dave Slater who made the effort traveling far away into the deep wild Indonesia jungle risking his life and seeking his dreams living with animals, adventuring and getting their trust.
Furthermore, Slater did not hurt the monkeys, if that would have happened he would be in jail. But I think he's a very nice person trying to share animals nature life to us in a digital manner.
Besides the "Naruto" monkey looks like having so much fun, seems like he's very happy enjoying the company of the human.
The "PETA" idea of animals holding copyrights is crazy and selfish, it doesn't have any sense, they should hire Slater as their President of the organization instead of struggling with him.
Thank you so much for reading!!