Planet of the apes? PETA lawsuit claims monkey owns rights to selfie it took

This weekend's "War for the Planet of the Apes" portrays a simian uprising for control of the planet. A San Francisco court case has lower stakes — who owns the rights to a monkey selfie — but it could lead to animals enjoying more of the rights that humans do.

A (human) lawyer, arguing on behalf of a monkey named Naruto, argued this week that a primate named Naruto owns the copyright to a grinning, toothy selfie. Naruto took the picture in the wilds of Indonesia after a photographer momentarily stepped away from his camera.

Of course, the photo went viral, as cute animal photos do. And People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sued photographer David Slater, claiming that the copyright for the selfie belongs to Naruto.

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During oral arguments on Wednesday, three judges on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit appeared skeptical of PETA's argument that an animal can be a copyright owner.

"Can you point to a U.S. Supreme Court holding that says "man and monkey are the same?" Judge Carlos T. Bea asked David Schwarz, a lawyer for the PETA.

Andrew J. Dhuey, Slater's lawyer, blasted PETA's lawsuit as frivolous.

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The heart of the case is whether an animal can be an "author" of a work and has the right to sue — called "standing" — for infringement under the U.S. Copyright Act. Bea noted that the law only mentions a "person" having right to sue for copyright infringement.

PETA argued that the monkey — or more accurately, a Sulawesi crested macaque — owns the copyright in the photo. PETA sued using the monkey's name so the case is called Naruto v. Slater.

PETA said it would use funds from the sale of the photo to protect Naruto, his family and their habitat.

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The judge asked PETA's attorney, "In the world of Naruto, is there legitimacy and illegitimacy? Are Naruto's offspring children as defined in the statute?"

Angela Dunning, a lawyer for Slater's photography company, Blurb, told the three-judge panel that PETA is "not even sure they have the right monkey."

When the photo first went viral, Slater claimed he owned the copyright because the photo was taken with his camera, but the U.S. Copyright Office disagreed. The Copyright Office even amended its online guide on what isn't copyrightable, and now lists a work by a "monkey" as not copyrightable.

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Wikimedia refused to take down the photograph when Slater said he owned the copyright and demanded it be taken down. Wikimedia concluded the selfie is in the public domain because it can't be copyrighted by a non-human.