Summary Of The Article Hey, That's My Picture By David Slater

805 Words4 Pages

John is a tourist in Italy. He asks an Italian local to take a picture of him by the Colosseum. John assumes that he, not the local, owns the photo, because he owns the camera. He soon begins to question himself. The article, “Hey, That’s My Picture!” is about how one animal photographer found himself in a similar situation. In the article, the author explains how British wildlife photographer David Slater ended up in a legal battle against Wikimedia about who owns a certain “monkey selfie.” The photo was technically taken by a monkey, but it was taken using Slater’s camera. There have since been two arguments regarding who owns the photo. Some people believe that the photo belongs to Slater, since it was taken using his camera, and that he …show more content…

The article says that, “Slater considered filing a lawsuit against Wikimedia, saying that he suffered a financial loss because of the photos.” This supports the thesis because it is an example of how the author uses personal opinions and stories to develop the argument. Also according to the article, in the words of David Slater, “It wasn’t the monkey that stole the camera, went behind the bush, and [took its portrait] all by itself. It required a large [amount of] input from myself.” This proves to be another example of how the author used personal stories and opinions in the text to develop the argument that the photos can be copyrighted. Unlike in these examples, the side that stated that the photo was free did not use many personal stories. This side of the argument used very few quotes from specific people, only “Wikipedia.” This makes it less persuasive in the sense that it is more difficult for a reader to relate to it, potentially making the reader be persuaded to the other side. This makes this side of the argument less compelling and less persuasive. Clearly, the author used a few different examples of personal stories and opinions to develop the argument and persuade the