On the web he is now a star. Even the macaque loves to immortalize their image with selfies. The photo, published by Wikipedia, is really funny and shows the beautiful face of the creature of the genus "Macaca Nigra"
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
On the web he is now a star. A true precursor the macaque, which in unsuspected times, when the fashion of #selfies was not yet the most practiced sport by smartphone owners, created one of the most loved and shared self-portraits ever on social media, also known as the “monkey-selfie” which, at least initially, literally made the fortune of its author. Or rather the owner of the camera with which the macaque in 2011 had self-immortalized. But today he is in the midst of a controversy over the copyrigh considering that the photo was published on Wikipedia and therefore under creative commons license.
In 2011 the wildlife photographer David Slater was preparing to photograph this female macaque while on a trip to Indonesia, but while he was arranging all the equipment, the monkey, almost making fun of him, stole his camera, gave a nice smile and click. Not one, but many selfies, some of which are out of focus and others have come out well. One of these is memorable.
The photo of the discorida, the infamous monkey selfie, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by a user, it is actually really funny and shows the beautiful face of the creature of the genus "Macaca Nigra". But it certainly did not appeal to its owner David Slater who asked for immediate removal. Request not accepted because, as explained by Wikipedia, according to the copyright laws in force in the USA, animals cannot be copyright owners and since the monkey is the real photographer, they rejected Slater's paternity claim.
“I made £ 2.000 in the first few years after it was taken. After it ended up on Wikipedia, all interests in buying it disappeared. It's hard to imagine how much he lost, but I assume I lost £ 10,000 or more. It's killing my business, " he told the BBC.
Now the story will go to court, but in the meantime the macaque laughs, happy too to have entered the world of selfies.
Francesca Mancuso
Foto: Wikimedia Commons
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