A Statement From the Monkey - the New Yorker
Remember this?
If you’ve been following the story of this image and it’s attendant copyright issues, then you’ll probably enjoy this…
Monkey feel vindicated that U.S. Copyright Office rule Bad Man ineligible to claim Monkey Selfie as intellectual property. Monkey advised by counsel not to comment while issue being adjudicated, but now that ruling has been issued Monkey grateful to be able to speak out for first time, and perhaps provide valuable context.
When Monkey snatch camera from Bad Man and run hooting into tall grass, Monkey see it as liberating act of self-expression, and, yes, perhaps even blow against human cultural hegemony. The fact that Monkey not realize at first that camera was camera and try to eat it, irrelevant. Once Monkey recognize that device make clicky sound, Monkey become fascinated. In that moment, Monkey reborn as Artist.