RantCrush Top 5: July 14, 2017

You may have seen the viral photo of a smiling black macaque looking straight into the camera from a few years ago. That was apparently a selfie that the monkey snapped himself, and PETA has sued the photographer who owns the camera, David Slater. PETA claims that since the monkey, named Naruto, took the picture himself, he owns the copyright and has the right to the proceeds from the photo.

A monkey took a selfie. PETA says he owns the copyright. The photographer’s defense: ‘He is a monkey’ https://t.co/cYfYLmMc5V pic.twitter.com/fY0ENa0fP6

— Ally Marotti (@AllyMarotti) July 13, 2017

PETA first sought a court order in 2015 but a federal judge ruled against it last year. Now PETA has appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and a 45-minute hearing took place on Wednesday. The judges questioned why PETA considers itself close enough to the specific monkey to sue over this, and there is also no proof that Naruto has been suffering from not being recognized as the copyright owner. On top of it all, Slater, who is a British freelance photographer, says that he is now broke due to the legal fees and cannot replace his broken camera equipment or buy a ticket to come to the U.S. He also said that PETA is using the wrong monkey. I know for a fact that [the monkey in the photograph] is a female and it’s the wrong age,” he said. “I’m bewildered at the American court system. Surely it matters that the right monkey is suing me.”

So about that monkey-selfie-copyright lawsuit:
1- The wrong primate might be in court!
2- The photographer is broke https://t.co/J57fJXtM6M pic.twitter.com/ptZgcaZEBz

— Polly Mosendz (@polly) July 13, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.