Photographers Sued Over Monkey Selfies: Disputes Regarding Copyright Learnings
In a landmark decision, a federal judge has established that under U.S. copyright law, animals cannot hold copyright to photographs or other creative works they produce, including selfies taken by animals. This ruling was made in the well-known "Monkey Selfie" case, where a court declared that a monkey, named Naruto, could not be considered the author or copyright holder of a series of viral selfies.
The court affirmed that copyright protects works created by humans and does not extend authorship or ownership rights to non-humans. Consequently, any copyright related to animal-taken selfies either does not exist or would be held by a human, such as the photographer or owner of the device, if applicable under other considerations.
Interestingly, the photographer involved in the "Monkey Selfie" dispute reached a settlement despite the ruling that animals cannot own copyrights. The case began when Naruto, a crested macaque, grabbed a photographer's camera and took a series of selfies. PETA filed a lawsuit claiming that Naruto, not the photographer, owns the copyright to the resulting photos.
However, the prolonged legal battle has reportedly left the photographer financially stranded, with him stating that he can't even pay his income tax due to the costs associated with the case.
Currently, the case is not finalized, and a three-judge panel in San Francisco is deciding whether a monkey can own the copyright to its selfies. So far, PETA has been losing in the case, with the panel appearing hostile to the monkey's representative during the hearing.
Under U.S. copyright law, copyright belongs to the "creator" of the work who fixes it in any tangible medium. In the case of photographs, copyright normally belongs to the one who clicks the shutter, unless the clicker was hired for "work for hire" or otherwise transferred the copyright. If neither the photographer nor the monkey could claim copyright, the photos would fall into the public domain.
This ruling serves as a reminder that while animals may take selfies or create other works, they do not hold the legal rights to own copyrights under U.S. law.
The photographer, despite not owning the copyright to Naruto's selfies under the current ruling, found himself financially stranded because of the costs associated with the legal battle. In light of this, social media platforms, as major distributors of entertainment content, may benefit from clearer copyright guidelines concerning animal-taken selfies, as it could potentially reduce legal issues and ease the process of managing and licensing such content.
