Selfie taken by a Macaque Monkey for photographer David Slater back in 2011
Toronto. My thanks once again to the curiosity of George Dunbar who awakened my interest in this article from the Guardian. You may remember photographer David Slater. Back in 2011 David spent many hours training monkeys to keep their eyes open and snap a photo with his camera. This particular selfie by a macaque proved to be very popular and David initially earned some good money from its use.
To his dismay, the image was considered public domain by Techdirt and Wikipedia. His lengthy fight over ownership of the image resulted in him being sued in 2015 by the macaque over copyright ownership (actually “People for Ethical Treatment of Animals – PETA” filed the suit on behalf of the monkey). Impoverished by the legal costs, David is ready to pack it in and become a dog walker!
