You may have read about photographer David Slater, and the tale of some monkey taking a self-potrait with a camera he left unattended. Techdirt wondered who owned the copyright. Monkey Business: Can A Monkey License Its Copyrights To A News Agency?

Technically, in most cases, whoever makes the actual work gets the copyright. That is, if you hand your camera to a stranger to take your photo, technically that stranger holds the copyright on the photo, though no one ever enforces this.

I pointed out the work-for-hire loophole in a tweet, but seriously doubt the macaque was in anyone’s employ. It gets better, though, because Techdirt got a takedown request, and inquired about the reason, given the questionable copyright claim.

Monkeys Don’t Do Fair Use; News Agency Tells Techdirt To Remove Photos

[W]e stand by our original analysis. We do not believe Caters News Agency has a legitimate copyright interest in the photo, and the company is in no position to issue a takedown of the images. Furthermore, even if it does turn out, through some convoluted process, that Caters does have a legitimate copyright interest in the photo, we believe that our use falls squarely into the classical confines of fair use under US copyright law. Thus, we have no plans to remove the photos or make any changes, barring Caters providing us with a sound basis for doing so.