PETA, photographer settle in 'monkey selfie' case

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Animal rights activists and a photographer reached a settlement regarding the ownership of a selfie photograph taken by a monkey.

Ending a two-year court battle, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and photographer David Slater announced Monday in a joint statement that 25 percent of any revenue derived from the self-portrait by Naruto, a crested macaque monkey, will be dedicated to charities protecting macaque habitats in Indonesia.

The photograph was taken in 2011 by a Naruto, then 7. He took Slater's camera and snapped a photograph of himself with it, court documents say. PETA has contended that by republishing the photo, Naturo's copyright rights were infringed.

"PETA and David Slater agree that this case raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal rights for non-human animals, a goal that they both support, and they will continue their respective work to achieve this goal," the statement said.

In 2016, U.S. District Judge William Orrick struck down PETA's argument that a selfie taken by a monkey is the monkey's intellectual property. Orrick called the case for an animal's ownership of a copyright a "stretch."