Our Law is Fun! series continued this Monday morning with Marko Popović, associate in the BDK’s Intellectual Property team, talking about copyright in selfies. Marko and colleagues discussed who is the author of the Oscar Selfie that went viral and whether a monkey can be author of a selfie. The latter story begins in a jungle of Sulawesi island, Indonesia, where a photographer David Slater left his photo equipment unattended. A macaque monkey Naruto took the opportunity and snapped a series of selfies. Slater considered himself the author. So did Naruto, according to PETA. The matter went to court with PETA representing Naruto and contending that Slater had infringed on Naruto’s copyright. In January 2016, the District Court for Northern District of California dismissed the case, but Naruto appealed. We can’t wait to hear the court’s final say on this!
Note: If you need legal assistance with IP law issues, please contact Bogdan Ivanišević, partner, and Marko Popović, associate.
