..BUT WILL NARUTO MACAQUE A PACKET?
YOU’VE got to be grin it to win it and Naruto the monkey’s selfie is set to earn him and his pals a windfall.
British photographer David Slater spent three days with a troupe of monkeys in an Indonesian jungle in 2008.
He gained their trust and made his camera accessible to the animals to take photographs. Curious Naruto grabbed it and took a now-famous selfie.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the macaque monkey in 2015, seeking financial control of the photos – for Naruto’s benefit.
But David’s lawyers argued that his company, Wildlife Personalities, own the worldwide commercial rights to the photos – including the selfie of Naruto with his toothy grin.
After a two-year legal battle, a settlement has been reached over the copyright ownership.
David has agreed to donate 25 per cent of any future revenue from the images to charities dedicated to protecting crested macaques in Indonesia.
His lawyer declined to say how much money the photos had raked in.