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The Latest: Attorney: Monkey cannot get money from copyright


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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on federal court hearing over a monkey's right to hold a copyright to a selfie photo (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

Attorneys for a wildlife photographer whose camera was used by a monkey to snap selfies asked a federal appeals court to end a lawsuit seeking to give the animal rights to the photos.

They argued before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday that the case was a waste of resources. The panel didn't issue a ruling.

Angela Dunning said the monkey named Naruto couldn't hold a copyright because he cannot benefit financially from his work.

She represents Blurb, a San Francisco-based company that published a book with the selfies taken in Indonesia with an unattended camera belonging to British photographer David Slater.

Slater says the British copyright for the photos obtained by his company should be honored worldwide.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sought a court order in 2015 allowing it to administer all proceeds from the photos to benefit the monkey.

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The item has been corrected to show the photographer's company owns the copyright, not the publishing company.

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11:35 a.m.

Federal appeals judges in San Francisco have grilled an attorney for an animal rights group that wants a monkey awarded the rights to a selfie photo it snapped.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday asked the lawyer why the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had authority to sue on behalf of the monkey named Naruto.

PETA sought a court order in 2015 allowing it to administer all proceeds from the photos to benefit the monkey.

Naruto snapped the photos in Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 2011 with an unattended camera belonging to British nature photographer David Slater.

Slater says the British copyright for the photos obtained by his company should be honored worldwide.

A federal judge ruled last year that the monkey cannot be declared the photos' copyright owner.

San Francisco-based self-publishing company Blurb, which published a book called "Wildlife Personalities" that includes the monkey selfies.

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12:05 a.m.

The battle over now-famous selfie photographs taken by a macaque monkey will head back to federal court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco on Wednesday will hear arguments on whether an animal can own the copyright to a photograph. The proceedings will be broadcast online.

The lawsuit filed in 2015 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sought a court order allowing PETA to administer all proceeds from the photos for the benefit of the monkey, which it identified as Naruto.

The photos were taken during a 2011 trip to Sulawesi, Indonesia, with British nature photographer David Slater's camera.

Slater says the British copyright obtained for the photos by his company, Wildlife Personalities Ltd., should be honored worldwide

A federal judge last year ruled that the monkey cannot be declared the photos' copyright owner.

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