It’s been seven years since the photo above was taken by none other than the very monkey in the picture, a macaque named Naruto. That’s right: it’s a selfie. When the owner of the camera tried to use it in his book, good old PETA took to the courts to defend Naruto’s copyright of original work. This raised the curious and intermittently comical question: who owns the rights to original works created by monkeys (or any non-human animal)?
Spoiler: no one does! I don’t legally have to credit the photo above because it’s been ruled to be in the public domain.
What’s equally amazing is that the US legal system has been convulsing over the issue about Naruto’s standing, and only recently has the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that he has none, despite the fact that the case was settled last September. This has been reported by Ars Technica in an article that should really be read in its entirely for maximum effect.