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10 Wake Forest L. Rev. Online 15 (2020)
Naruto v. Slater: One Small Snap for a Monkey, One Giant Lawsuit for Animal-Kind

handle is hein.journals/wflron10 and id is 15 raw text is: NAR UTO V. SLATER: ONE SMALL SNAP FOR A MONKEY, ONE GIANT LAWSUIT FOR ANIMAL-KIND Matthew P. Hooker* I. INTRODUCTION When David Slater left his camera unattended in Indonesia, little did he realize the enormous legal battle that would result from that simple act.1 With a single snap, a curious male crested black macaque named Naruto not only captured an iconic photograph, but also managed to jumpstart a legal campaign to assert animals' rights to sue in federal court and protect their interests in their created works.2 If successful, the lawsuit would have been the first legal declaration that an animal owned property.3 Naruto's case raised intriguing legal questions and stole the public's attention. The lawsuit, Naruto v. Slater,4 even took first place for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform's survey of the Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2015.5 The case has been called curious, 6 a stunt,7 and simply absurd.8 But this case, dealing with who owned the resulting Monkey Selfies and who could sue to protect those rights, raised intriguing questions about standing for nonhuman entities.9 It also raised novel questions regarding * Copyright © 2020 Matthew P. Hooker. Juris Doctor Candidate, 2020, Wake Forest University School of Law. B.A., Communications, 2016, Thomas Edison State University. Executive Editor, Wake Forest Law Review. Special thanks to my family (especially Chiedza) for their continued love and support during my academic pursuits. 1. This Selfie May Set a Legal Precedent, PEOPLE FOR ETHICAL TREATMENT ANIMALS (Sept. 22, 2015), https://www. b precedent. 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. 888 F.3d 418 (9th Cir. 2018). 5. Lawsuit on Behalf of Monkey Tops Poll of Year's Most Ridiculous Lawsuits, U.S. CHAMBER INST. FOR LEGAL REFORM (Dec. 21, 2015), hotps:llwewinstitteforealreform .com/resourcellawsuit oon-behalf-of-monke- toizs oil-of-years-most-ridicious-laws uits. 6. Rick Kogan, What We Learn from the Curious Case of the Monkey Selfie, CHI. TRIB. (Jan. 26, 2018), bttle://www.chica otribune.com! vi c iainment/ct-ae- monkey-takes-a-selfie-kogan-sidewa ks-0128-story.htmI. 7. Andrew Orlowski, Petty PETA Rapped by Judges over Monkey Selfie Copyright Stunt, REGISTER (Apr. 23, 2018, 6:56 PM), httbs a/wwwthereister. co. uk!2018/04/23/Deta monkey selie apell. 8. John Bonazzo, People Are Literally Suing Each Other over the Rights to a Monkey Selfie, OBSERVER (July 14, 2017, 1:19 PM), https://observer.com/2017/07/monkev-selfielawsuit-peta/. 9. See infra Part IV. 15

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