Categories | Health & Medicine Article

'Monkey Selfie' Settlement May Spark Positive Changes to Wildlife Photography

September 21st, 2017 • Health & Medicine • 2 minute read
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Author Sara E. Teller

'Monkey Selfie' Settlement May Spark Positive Changes to Wildlife Photography

As a result of the landmark “monkey selfie” case and settlement agreement between People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and David Slater, some positive changes could be coming.  Renowned wildlife photographer Andy Parkinson has decided to donate a percentage of his profits to charities who are working hard to preserve the gradually disappearing habitats of animals.  “We need to start giving back more to our subjects,” Parkinson stated.The photographer, whose clients include National Geographic and BBC Wildlife, made the pledge to PETA U.K. following the settlement over Naruto’s infamous close-up.  In 2011, the endangered monkey grabbed David Slater’s mounted camera and snapped a selfie.  Slater then self-published a book that included the image.  PETA sued Slater, claiming Naruto owned the rights to the photograph, not the photographer.  The parties eventually settled and Slater agreed to donate 25 percent of future revenue from the selfie to charitable groups who protect monkeys of Naruto’s species in Indonesia.

'Monkey Selfie' Settlement May Spark Positive Changes to Wildlife PhotographyAndy Parkinson, Image Courtesy of Wild Nature

Parkinson and PETA would love to see other wildlife photographers come aboard with similar pledges so the animals they capture will live in more humane conditions and be around for generations to come.  Parkinson’s images depict living, breathing beings that don’t deserve to be abused.PETA is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Its more than 6.5 million members and supporters focus their “attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: in the food industry, in the clothing trade, in laboratories, and in the entertainment industry.”  The organization also works on “a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of rodents, birds, and other animals who are often considered ‘pests’ as well as cruelty to domesticated animals.”  Through “public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns,” PETA is dedicated to bringing awareness to these issues and advocating for changes to the way animals are treated.

Sources:

Monkey Selfie Suit Finally Settled After Two YearsMonkey Selfie' Case Inspires Another Photographer To Donate Profits To WildlifeSettlement Reached: ‘Monkey Selfie’ Case Broke New Ground for Animal RightsPETA Mission Statement
Sara E. Teller

About Sara E. Teller

Sara is a credited freelance writer, editor, contributor, and essayist, as well as a novelist and poet with nearly twenty years of experience. A seasoned publishing professional, she's worked for newspapers, magazines and book publishers in content digitization, editorial, acquisitions and intellectual property. Sara has been an invited speaker at a Careers in Publishing & Authorship event at Michigan State University and a Reading and Writing Instructor at Sylvan Learning Center. She has an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduating with a 4.2/4.0 GPA. She is also a member of Chi Sigma Iota and a 2020 recipient of the Donald D. Davis scholarship recognizing social responsibility. Sara is certified in children's book writing, HTML coding and social media marketing. Her fifth book, PTSD: Healing from the Inside Out, was released in September 2019 and is available on Amazon. You can find her others books there, too, including Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide, released in December 2017.

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