Copyright: Don’t tolerate any monkey business! – Part 2
Those avid readers of the Ortolan Legal newsletter may recall an article in August’s edition regarding the dispute that had arisen between a British wildlife photographer and the animal rights group (PETA) over the ownership of the copyright in a photograph taken by a female macaque monkey during the photographer’s trip to Indonesia in 2011. You can read that article here.
The parties’ agreement to settle in advance of the decision of the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court in San Francisco made national news during September when they agreed, unsurprisingly, that the copyright belonged not to the monkey but to the photographer, Mr Slater. It is believed that Mr Slater agreed, as part of the settlement, to donate 25% of future income from the monkey’s selfie to charitable organisations dedicated to promoting and improving the welfare and environment of the infamous monkey and other crested black macaque monkeys in Indonesia.
In a world of craziness it is reassuring to see that common sense has prevailed. However, this long running case does serve as a reminder that ownership isn’t always easy to determine particularly where technology and, in particular, artificial intelligence is increasingly producing works without human intervention.
Posted on 10/04/2017 by Ortolan
