DENVER ¨C A rare crested macaque monkey that snapped a well-known grinning ¡°selfie¡± should be declared the photo¡¯s owner and receive damages for copyright infringement after it was used in a wildlife book, U.S. animal rights activists argued in a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
Naruto, a 6-year-old macaque that lives free in the Tangkoko Reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, took the image and several others about four years ago using a camera left unattended by British photographer David Slater, said People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in the suit.
The ¡°monkey selfies¡± that resulted came from ¡°a series of purposeful and voluntary actions by Naruto, unaided by Slater,¡± said the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
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