British Photographer, David Slater is irate over Wikimedia’s inclusion of his photograph in Wikimedia Commons, an online archive of royalty-free images. Slater submitted a request for its removal but Wikimedia has adamantly refused to take it down, stating that Slater has no claim on the image as he did not take it; a monkey did.
In 2011, Slater traveled to Indonesia with his photography equipment to capture the crested black macaques in their natural habitat. After he left his camera unattended, some of the monkeys took control of the photo-shoot and snapped some shots, including a selfie that has since gained serious notoriety. Slater claims that because he set the lights, made the trip, and provided the equipment, the copyright to the photograph belongs to him. Wikimedia disagrees.
Wikimedia, which is based in the U.S., claims that Slater’s cropping of the photograph is not a significant exercise of creativity sufficient to establish it as an original work. They argue that the monkey took the photograph, therefore, the monkey would own the copyright if it were human. The organization maintains the photograph is public domain.
Slater has been receiving legal advice and claims Wikimedia is “ruining [his] income stream.” Also, Slater stated he “has been goaded into pursuing” some form of legal action, though no papers have been filed yet.