This Monkey Will Get 25% Of The Royalties From The Selfie It Took

The selfie featured the male crested macaque grinning while looking straight into the camera with his amber-coloured eyes. It was a picture unlike any other.

The photographer, David J. Slater, had intentionally set up his camera on a tripod, hoping some monkeys would play around with it. At the time, he was overjoyed to see that they had.

"They played with the camera until, of course, some images were inevitably taken! … It was like the joy of seeing your new baby learn about something new and becoming enlightened with a new toy. They loved the shutter noise, but most of all they loved their own faces, "chimping" away in what seemed to me to be total fun for them…." he wrote on his blog.

Slater then went on to publish the pictures and made some profit from it.

Animal rights activists argue that since it was Naruto who pressed the camera's shutter, the pictures belong to him and not the owner of the camera.

In 2015, The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Naruto claiming just that.

However, Slater argued that because he was the one who had set up the camera, the lighting and other camera specifications, he was the rightful owner.

Wikimedia Commons, on the other hand, argued that, since an animal cannot own copyright, the pictures should be of public domain and free-to-be-used by anyone.

The case had befuddled law experts over the years and has caused it to stretch for nearly two years.

PETA and Slater announced that Naruto the monkey would be entitled to 25% of all future royalties made from his selfies.

They released a joint statement saying “PETA and David Slater agree that this case raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal rights for non-human animals, a goal that they both support, and they will continue their respective work to achieve this goal.”

"As we learn more about Naruto, his community of macaques, and all other animals, we must recognise appropriate fundamental legal rights for them as our fellow global occupants and members of their own nations who want only to live their lives and be with their families."

PETA announced that charities dedicated to protecting Naruto's species will receive his royalties.

"Naruto and the famous 'monkey selfie' photographs that he undeniably took clearly demonstrate that he and his fellow macaques — like so many other animals — are highly intelligent, thinking, sophisticated beings worthy of having legal ownership of their own intellectual property and holding other rights as members of the legal community," PETA said.