Cases study 8 : The monkey selfie ( 2011 )

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Image result for The monkey selfie


Case 
Back in 2011, a nature photographer David Slater left his camera in the Indonesian rainforest. Meanwhile ,Two Old World monkeys took David Slater's camera and reportedly snapped some pictures of themselves. 

Slater found out that the photos are unique. “Every photographer dreams of a photograph like this.” said by Slater. 

The photo went viral and was eventually uploaded to the Wikimedia Commons as a public domain image. Mr. Slater has objected to publication of the selfie on Wikipedia.He claims that the publication is infringement of his copyright but Wikipedia claims that monkey created images are not protectable under copyright because only humans can create copyrighted works. 

Held 
Copyright law stated that the work must have an "author." In U.S. , the term "authorship" implies that the work must owe its origin to a human being. Materials produced solely by nature, by plants, or by animals are not copyrightable. Similarly, in the UK, an author must be a "person." 

Copyright Act 1987 Section 13(2)
Certain conduct will not be considered as infringement of copyright. This provision provide defences to any allegation of infringement. 

FAIR USE
Where a copyrighted material is used for for purposes of non-profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events. If such use is public, then it must be accompanied by an acknowledgement of the title of the work and its authorship.

Point of view 
Based on the case, I have learnt something new and that is, copyright can only be used on humans but not animals. With no author to claim copyright, the selfie taken by Naruto, a macaque, is simply part of the public domain and can be used without permission by anyone. Besides, animals cannot own real property. For now, whether you consider monkeys to be properties or peers, their pictures cannot qualify for protection in the Copyright Office. It is patently absurd if Naruto were to be claimed as the rightful owner to the photograph when neither it will experience any loss in terms of money nor reputation. In other words, the copyright will never benefit Naruto in any ways. Copyrights are inapplicable for animals. Therefore, in this case of copyright, for which is created by Mother Nature, it should be owned by Mother Nature-- which is to say it is owned, not by one of us, but all of us.


References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_dispute

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/13/17235486/monkey-selfie-lawsuit-ninth-circuit-motion-to-dismiss-denied

http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2018/01/article_0007.html



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