Judge: Monkey cannot own selfie photos copyright

The photos were taken during a 2011 trip to Sulawesi, Indonesia, by British nature photographer David Slater, who asked the court to dismiss the case. Unfortunately, the monkey did push the button, which means it did take the picture.

Now an American Judge has decided that the monkey doesn’t own the photograph.

“I’m not the person to weigh into this”, website ArsTechnica quoted Orrick as saying in court Wednesday.

The photographer left his camera unattended on a tripod for a few moments, and the curious animals snatched the device and began playing with it.

Since then, a battle for the copyright of the photo has raged.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a lawsuit a year ago on behalf of the monkey – which it calls Naruto – arguing that, in fact, Naruto owns the copyright (which PETA is offering to administer on the monkey’s behalf).

He told a Federal Court in San Francisco: ‘While Congress and the president can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act’.

“This makes animal welfare charities look bad which saddens me, deflecting away from the animals and onto stunts like this”, he wrote on Facebook.

Judge Orrick said that he would confirm the dismissal of Peta’s lawsuit in writing, but added that he would allow the charity to file an amended case if it wishes, according to U.S. reports.

“Jeff Kerr, general counsel for PETA, said the organization will continue fighting for the monkey’s rights”.