Brilio.net/en - After years of court battles, a federal judge in the U.S. ruled a macaque monkey who took the famous selfie, can not in fact own be the rightful copyright owner of the photograph. The U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick said in federal court on Tuesday January 5th that while Congress and the President can extend the protection of the law to animals and humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act.
The lawsuit was filed by none other than animal protection agency PETA, who wanted the proceeds of the photograph to benefit the macaque monkey and others living in a reserve in Sulawesi. British photographer David Slater, who set up the camera in Sulawesi was pleased to find the selfie on his camera after the incident, took the photo in 2011. The picture has since been widely distributed in the photography book Wildlife Personalities and by Wikipedia, who claims that no one owns the copyright to the picture because it was taken by an animal and not a human.
Either way, its a selfie that was more seen than Kim Kardashians Instagram account, a feat in and of itself.
Contributor: Ivana Lucic