An endearing monkey selfie that became viral worldwide has become the center of a legal tussle involving interpretations of international copyright law.

The U.S. Copyright Office USCO) released a statement saying the "Monkey selfie" can't be copyrighted, not even by the person who owns the camera that took the selfie.

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USCO ruled that only works created by a human can be copyrighted under U.S. law, which excludes photographs and artwork created by animals or by machines without human intervention. 

David Slater, a nature photographer from Gloucestershire, went to Indonesia on a trip when an endangered monkey (a crested black macaque) took his camera -- and a selfie of itself.

Slater argued he owns the copyright to the monkey selfie since he claims he set-up the selfie mode on purpose and the selfie's like a staged shot. He said the monkey's pressing the shutter is completely irrelevant. 

USCO took the side of Wikimedia that refused to remove from its common library the selfie the monkey had taken. Slater asked Wikimedia to remove the photo claiming Wikimedia violated his rights to the photo. 

The nature photographer said Wikimedia is just guessing because a case like his has never been tested. 

USCO specified it has policies about federal copyright law. It says a photograph taken by a monkey doesn't entitle Slater to become copyright owner of the photo.

USCO and Wikimedia shared the same interpretation of the copyright law.

The United Kingdom law has other opinion about the matter. It would allow Slater to claim ownership if it was part of his "intellectual creation."

This claim has never been tested in court, however.

Slater's only option is legal action if he still wants to claim the copyright to the "monkey selfie."

Other entities the Copyright Office cannot register include robots, plants, ghosts and "divine beings."

TagsMonkey selfie, Wikimedia, David Slater, copyright issue