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7 August 2017Copyright

‘Monkey selfie’ case nears conclusion

The copyright infringement case brought by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on behalf of a monkey is nearing its conclusion after a joint motion to stay the appeal was filed.

The motion (pdf) was filed on Friday, August 4, in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

It stated that the “parties have agreed on a general framework for a settlement subject to the negotiation and resolution of specific terms”.

It added the parties were “optimistic that they will be able to reach an agreement that will resolve all claims in this matter”.

The case stems from a ‘selfie’ taken by a Macaque monkey in Indonesia using the camera of British photographer David Slater.

The photo then went viral, and when Slater saw the picture on Wikipedia, he asked the website to stop using it without his permission.

Wikipedia refused, stating that the picture cannot be copyrighted as Slater did not take the picture.

This led to a copyright infringement lawsuit in September 2015 by PETA, which claimed proceeds from the photo should be given to preserve the monkey’s habitat.

In response, Slater filed  a motion to dismiss the case arguing that US law did not give animals the standing to assert copyright ownership.

Last year  WIPR reported that Judge William Orrick of the US District Court for the Northern District of California rejected PETA’s claim and stated that any copyright ownership by animals is a matter for Congress, not the courts.

In July, the court heard arguments from both parties in PETA’s appeal.

PETA’s attorneys argued that the copyright ownership should belong to the monkey, not Slater, while the photographer’s defence asked if PETA has a close enough relationship to Naruto to represent it in court.

“Looking at the judges’ faces, I think they were wondering what on earth was going on,” said Slater, talking to WIPR last month.

“Even if the monkey could get copyright, it still doesn’t mean the monkey is a copyright holder; I set up the tripod and this is documented from the first days of the trial in 2011.”

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More on this story

Copyright
13 July 2017   The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ appeal against a ruling that stated monkeys cannot hold copyright is currently being heard by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Copyright
11 September 2017   Fashion model Gigi Hadid is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit for allegedly posting a picture of herself on Instagram that belonged to a photographer.
Copyright
13 September 2017   Yesterday, WIPR reported that the ‘monkey selfie’ dispute between a photographer and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had reached a settlement. We spoke to UK lawyers to find out whether a case like this would ever succeed in the UK courts.