A series of Federal law suits are being filed everywhere as wildlife activists are now on the verge of fighting copyright ownership for Naruto, the said to be rightful owner of the photo captured at the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi four years ago, against professional photographer David Slater.

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The macaque monkey reportedly grabbed, posed and clicked the camera of Slater giving the what can be seen now grinning big smile. As per CNET, Slater summons to contest Wikimedia, but the wiki-based project organization claims that Naurto, and not Slater, is the owner of the photo.

On the other hand, an animal rights organization the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued Slater and his company Wildlife Personalities and the publishing company Blurb on Monday for denying Naruto ownership.

According to Mail Online, the photographer disputed that copyright ownership cannot be given to animals as stated by the updated compendium issued  by the US Copyright Office in 2014. Copyright can only be reserved for works done by a human being, which means anything produced by animals will not be accepted.

Coming to its defense, legal counsel of PETA Jeffrey Kerr said that it is "is only an opinion... The act grants copyright to authors of original works, with no limit on species." He further added that "Copyright law is clear: It's not the person who owns the camera, it's the being who took the photograph."

"If we prevail in this lawsuit, it will be the first time that a nonhuman animal is declared the owner of property, rather than being declared a piece of property himself or herself," Kerr said.

Meanwhile, Slater expressed on his Facebook account his anger and sadness towards the circumstance. "This makes animal welfare charities look bad which saddens me, deflecting away from the animals and onto stunts like this," he posted.

TagsNaruto, Monkey selfie, PETA, animal rights, Copyright, wildlife photography