In this artcle “Monkey Selfie Copyright Case” we are going to delve into the famous case of a Macaque taking a selfie of its own and the long legal battle that follows.
Summary:
In 2011, a legal dispute arose between Wikimedia Commons, Techdirt, PETA and David Slater regarding the copyright of a selfie taken by a Celebes Crested Macaque.
Wikimedia Commons and Techdirt argued that the selfies were public domain because non-human(Macaque) cannot hold copyrights and David Slater also does not hold copyright because he did not take the photographs himself.
David Slater argued that he had engineered the whole situation where the Macaque was able to take the selfies.
PETA(People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) argued that since the Macaque had taken the selfie, the Macaque should hold the copyright.
It was held by the US court that the selfies were public domain since non-humans cannot hold copyrights and David Slater also did not had copyright as he was not the creator of the photograph.
Explained in Detail:
Background:
1. David Slater, a British nature photographer had set up his cameras in the jungles of Indonesia .
2. When he left the cameras unattended, a Celebes Crested Macaque got hold of one of his cameras and took a selfie with it.
3. Later on, Slater while going through his cameras found out that the Macaque had taken a selfie of itself .
4. Slater published the images on the internet and the selfies went viral.
Legal Dispute:
1. Slater claimed copyright of the selfie as he argued he had engineered the whole situation for the Macaque to take the selfie.
2. Wikimedia Commons and Techdirt (a blogging website) used the images as public domain.
3. The court ruled in favour of Wikimedia Commons and Techdirt, stating that it was indeed public domain, as Slater had not taken the selfie.
4. In 2014,the US Copyright Office stated that non humans are not eligible for copyrights.
5. In 2015,PETA filed a lawsuit arguing that the Macaque should have the copyright of the selfie as it was taken by the macaque itself.
6. The court dismissed the lawsuit .
7. In 2017, Slater and PETA reached a settlement where Slater agreed to pay a portion of his profits from the selfies to organizations who worked for conserving the habitats of Macaques.
Conclusion:
It is quite clear that under US Copyright Laws, non-humans cannot hold copyrights and also there has to be significant human contribution in order to be considered human copyright ,otherwise the works are public domain.
Thanks for reading. If you want to read more articles like “Monkey Selfie Copyright Case” then click on https://lawtract.com/eu-has-an-ai-act-india-doesnt-why-is-that/
You can also read the Wikipedia article https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_dispute
