9/24/2015

ShouldAMonkeyOwnACopyright?:13.7:CosmosAndCulture:NPR

pp

policy

M p?
PMB 23, 2015

3:48 PM

BB J.

AselfietakenbyamacaquemonkeyontheIndonesianislandofSulawesiin2011withacamerathatwas
positionedbyBritishnaturephotographerDavidSlater.
AP

AsixyearoldcrestedblackmacaquemonkeynamedNaruto,wholivesinthe
TangkokoNatureReserveontheislandofSulawesi,Indonesia,isatthecenterofa
http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/09/23/442860957/shouldamonkeyownacopyright?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_

1/5

9/24/2015

ShouldAMonkeyOwnACopyright?:13.7:CosmosAndCulture:NPR

provocativelawsuitfiledonMondaybytheanimalrightsorganizationPETA.
Naruto'sfaceisknowntheworldoverbecause,in2011,heusedacameraleft
unattendedonthegroundbyphotographerDavidSlatertotakehisownpicturethe
viral"monkeyselfie."(Note:OriginallythemediareferredtoNarutoasfemale,but
he'smale.)
Infact,Narutotookasuccessionofphotographsthatdayandthecentralclaimof
PETA'slawsuitisthatthecopyrightshouldbelongtoNarutonottotheSlater.The
documentfiledbyPETAonbehalfofNarutoincludesthislanguage:
"NarutoauthoredtheMonkeySelfiesbyhisindependent,autonomousactionsin
examiningandmanipulatingSlater'sunattendedcameraandpurposelypushingthe
shutterreleasemultipletimes,understandingthecauseandeffectrelationship
betweenpressingtheshutterrelease,thenoiseoftheshutter,andthechangetohis
reflectioninthecameralens."

PETAGeneralCounselJeffKerrtoldmeinanemailTuesdaythatwhenweare
dealingwithintelligentandintentionalanimals,likethesemacaques,species
membershipshouldnotbethedecidingfactorincopyrightlaw.
"ThelawrecognizesthatanybodywhotakesaphotoliketheoneNarutotookowns
thecopyright.Ifahumantookthisphototherewouldbenoquestionthatthe
photographerownsit.Thatshouldn'tchangejustbecauseNarutoisamacaque.Heis
entitledtothebenefitsofthearthecreated."
Thelawsuititselfincludesthispassage:
"Whiletheclaimofauthorshipbyspeciesotherthanhomosapiensmaybenovel,
'authorship'undertheCopyrightAct,17U.S.C.101etseq.,issufficientlybroadsoas
topermittheprotectionsofthelawtoextendtoanyoriginalwork,includingthose
createdbyNaruto."

IfindtheargumentadvancedbyKerr,andbythelawsuitgenerally,tobepersuasive,
fortwocentralreasons.
ThatthephotographsNarutotookresultedfromathoughtful,intentionalseriesof
actionsfitsperfectlywellwithwhatweanthropologistsknowofmonkeyintelligence.
http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/09/23/442860957/shouldamonkeyownacopyright?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_

2/5

9/24/2015

ShouldAMonkeyOwnACopyright?:13.7:CosmosAndCulture:NPR

Macaquesallspeciesofmacaques,includingNaruto'ssortoutcomplexkinand
dominancerankrelationshipsintheirgroupsandtakepartinwhatprimatescientists
callpoliticalmaneuvering.Theylearnfromeachotherandpaycloseattentionto
whatgoesoninboththeirsocialandtheirphysicalenvironments.Ourknowledge
aboutmonkeysleavesnoquestionthattheyactwithpurposeandintentionevery
singleday.
Indeed,primatologistAntjeEngelhardtofGeorgAugustUniversityinGttingen,
Germany,whohasobservedNaruto'sgroupinSulawesiforyears,isnamedalong
withPETAasNaruto's"nextfriend"inthelawsuitmeaningthatshejoinswith
PETAinsuingforcopyrightonNaruto'sbehalf.
Justasimportantly,PETAseekstodiverttheprofitsofthephotographs,including
thosepublishedinabook,fromSlatertoNarutoandtheothermacaquesinthe
naturereserve.Thesemonkeysarelistedas"criticallyendangered":Theirnumbers
aredecreasingrapidlybecauseofbushmeathuntingandencroachmentbypeoplein
theareasimmediatelyaroundthereserve.
Slater,thephotographerwhosecameraNarutoused,toldtheWashingtonPostthis
weekthatthefilingofthislawsuitisa"stunt"byPETA."Iauthoredthesetupyou
see,"henoted.
AsthesamePostarticlenotes,however,backin2011SlaterwrotethatNarutohad
conducted"itsownphotoshoot"andthat"theshutterwaspressedbythemonkey."
ThePostendsitsreportwiththissentence:"Narutowasunavailableforcomment."
That'sacuteline.But,ofcourse,thefactthatNarutocannotverbalizehisresponseto
ajournalistordescribehisactionsinwordsisbesidethepointinthiscontext.He'sa
highlyintelligentprimatewhoactedwithpurpose.
Thelawsuitmaybealongshot,butit'saworthyone.IfPETAshouldwinonbehalfof
Naruto,excitingresultswouldfollow.Practically,theconservationofthese
endangeredmacaqueswouldbefurtheredbythefinancialgain.Andintheworldof
animalethics,theoutcomewouldbesignificant.Asentientandsmartnonhuman
wouldbeunderstoodlegallynotaspropertybut,forthefirsttime,astheownerofa
workthathehimselfhadcreated.
http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/09/23/442860957/shouldamonkeyownacopyright?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_

3/5

9/24/2015

ShouldAMonkeyOwnACopyright?:13.7:CosmosAndCulture:NPR

BarbaraJ.King,ananthropologyprofessorattheCollegeofWilliamandMary,
oftenwritesabouthumanevolution,primatebehaviorandthecognitionand
emotionofanimals.Barbara'smostrecentbookonanimalsistitledHowAnimals
Grieve.YoucankeepupwithwhatsheisthinkingonTwitter:@bjkingape

m f

mq

' ': mb f

b
bb
13.7
2015npr

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/09/23/442860957/shouldamonkeyownacopyright?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_

4/5

9/24/2015

ShouldAMonkeyOwnACopyright?:13.7:CosmosAndCulture:NPR

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/09/23/442860957/shouldamonkeyownacopyright?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_

5/5