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.