People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is ruining British photographer David Slater’s life. Six years ago, after spending time encouraging a crested black macaque named Naruto to use a camera to take photographs of itself, Slater hit paydirt. Naruto took two spectacular “selfies” and the photos quickly went viral. But then Wikimedia Commons posted the photos, claiming they were royalty-free images. Slater demanded the website pay for the photos or take them down. Wikimedia Commons refused, taking the position that the photos were not Slater’s property because the monkey pressed the camera’s shutter on its own. “I made £2,000 [for that picture] in the first year after it was taken,” he told the BBC in 2014. “After it went on Wikipedia all interest in buying it went. It’s hard to put a figure on it but I reckon I’ve lost £10,000 or more in income. It’s killing my business.”

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