'Monkey see, monkey sue': Copyright fight leaves monkey selfie photographer penniless
A photographer sued over a famous “monkey selfie” says he’s now broke.
What started out as a trip to Sulawesi, Indonesia to highlight the plight of the endangered crested black macaque for British photographer David Slater in 2011 turned into a long-winded court battle.
It started when the macaque snapped a selfie after snatching the camera from Mr Slater and the image of the grinning monkey went viral.
At the time it raised questions as to whether an animal could hold the rights to intellectual property after Mr Slater tried to copyright the image.
But now the 52-year-old Welshman said he’s been left penniless, according to the Telegraph, and is deciding whether to give up photography and becoming a dog walker.
Mr Slater said he couldn’t even afford a flight to America to be at the court hearing on Thursday.
“I’ve had outlays of several thousand pounds for lawyers, it is losing me income and getting me so depressed,” he said.
“When I think about the whole situation I really don’t think it’s worth it.”
He added everything he did to help the monkeys by taking photos has backfired on his private life.
“I’ve had my life ruined,” he said.
The photo was uploaded to Wikipedia and in 2014 Mr Slater requested it be taken down.
But Wikipedia argued at the time that Mr Slater did not own the rights to the photo because they belonged to the monkey.
The US Copyright Office ruled that animals can’t own copyright but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued Mr Slater in 2015.
A court hearing in San Francisco on Thursday heard from Mr Slater’s lawyers heard it was “absurd” for PETA to claim the photo belonged to a monkey because the monkey can’t financially benefit from his work.
Andrew Dhuey, also representing Mr Slater, said PETA should pay all of his legal fees because, “monkey see, monkey sue will not do in federal court”.
Two judges also questioned the legitimacy of a monkey holding copyright as the case continues.
Despite the debacle Mr Slater said he did not regret having the photo taken.
He said thanks to the publicity the photo created locals no longer short or eat macaques and now refer to them as the “selfie monkey”.
