The saga of a series of "Monkey Selfies" snapped four years ago in the Indonesian wilderness using a camera borrowed from a nature photographer seems to never end. At least it also appears to never get boring.
As you might have heard, PETA is now suing on behalf of a macaque named Naruto for copyright on the photographs, seeking "all proceeds from the sale, licensing, and other commercial uses of the Monkey Selfies" to fund conservation efforts.
But defense papers filed late last week say that PETA can't prove that Naruto, a male, is the actual monkey who took the famous pictures. If a monkey were able to hold copyright on a photo (we'll get to that in a second), the document alleges, it wouldn't necessarily be Naruto's to claim.
Nature photographer David Slater, who is being sued along with the makers of the book publishing software Slater used to make a nature book containing the photographs, has described the monkey seen in the famous selfie as female - as has, the court document says, PETA itself in some of its previous statements on the monkey selfie dispute.
"The allegation that Naruto is, in fact, the monkey who took the Monkey Selfies is contradicted by other allegations in the Complaint," a motion to dismiss the case, filed Friday, reads. "Specifically, in the Wildlife Book, Mr. Slater describes the monkey who took the photographs as a female, not a male like Naruto."