We're All Naruto: The Monkey Got 25%, While AI Creators Get Nothing. Why?

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of the Naruto monkey selfie case on AI creators' rights and the lack of legal protection for their work.

What is the Naruto monkey selfie case and why does it matter for AI? A monkey takes a selfie. Years later, a federal judge must decide who owns it. In the courtroom, the judge asks with a straight face whether Naruto would be required by law to provide written notice to other macaque monkeys before joining a lawsuit. The courtroom laughs. Here’s what’s not funny: the initial ruling. No human author, no rights. Period. Right now, if you’re creating with AI, the legal system says the same thing to you . Spend hours refining prompts, making hundreds of creative decisions, shaping output until it’s exactly right. Someone else can take it, use it, sell it. You get nothing. When you admit AI was involved, your work loses protection. So you stay quiet. Many pretend we’re not using the tool reshaping creative work at a speed and volume no human can match (or maybe should). Why are we treating human creativity with AI the same way we treat a monkey with a camera? And what does the shame around admitting you use AI, from both sides, reveal about what’s broken? This isn’t about whether AI deserves copyright. It’s about whether creators working with AI deserve protection for their work…

People in this episode

Host: Declan Dunn

Topics covered

• AI and copyright
• creative rights
• Naruto monkey selfie case
• legal system and AI
• human creativity
• intellectual property

Keywords

• Naruto monkey selfie
• AI creators
• copyright
• legal rights
• creative work
• intellectual property
• David Slater

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Slater

Books & works: Naruto

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