PETA Starts Lawsuit Over A Monkey Selfie

Nature photographer David Slater thought he had hit the jackpot when he discovered that a macaque monkey had taken a selfie with his camera while in to Indonesia in 2011. 

Now, he founds himself in the middle of a lawsuit with animal rights group PETA, who claim that Slater does not own the rights to the photo. 

PETA claims that the monkey owns the copyright to his own selfie, and that Slater cannot profit off of the picture. All money made off the picture, PETA says, rightfully belongs to the monkey. 

PETA took the issue to court, but the court ruled in favor of Slater, claiming that a photograph taken by a monkey cannot be copyrighted. Many outlets maintain that no one can own the copyrights, and therefore the image is being used in the public domain. 

Slater wrote on his Facebook that he feels hurt and sad by PETA's reaction, especially considering he had worked with the organization before. He believes this lawsuit is deflecting attention from helping animals and turning the focus on "stunts".