The British photographer whose camera was used by a monkey to take a selfie last night settled his legal battle with animal rights activists.

David Slater agreed to donate 25 per cent of his future earnings from the image to protecting Naruto, the Indonesian macaque who took it, activist group PETA said.

2 The copyright for the famous monkey selfie was deemed to be owned the Indonesian macaque who took it, PETA claimed Credit: AP:Associated Press

The settlement is confidential so it is not clear who will pay the estimated £200,000 legal costs that left Mr Slater, a freelancer, so broke he was considering becoming a dog walker.

PETA said in a statement that Naruto “undeniably” took the picture and that the case showed the “need to extend fundamental rights to animals”.

Both sides said in a joint statement that the case raised “important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal rights for non-human animals”.

Mr Slater had been sued in a US court by PETA which claimed that the copyright for the selfie taken by Naruto rests with the monkey and he should get any profits from its sales.

Lawyers for Mr Slater, from Chepstow in Monmouthshire, argued at the 9th Circuit in San Francisco that he could not be sued because his accuser was a monkey - and may not even be the right one.

Angela Dunning, said the case was “absurd” because Naruto “can’t benefit financially from his work he is a monkey”.

2 David Slater was left so broke he was considering becoming a dog walker Credit: Caters News Agency

PETA claimed that Naruto should have the same rights as a human and that it was a test case for broader animal rights.

The group sued in September 2015 and the case rumbled on for two years until the settlement.

In a statement general counsel to PETA Jeff Kerr said: “PETA’s ground-breaking case sparked a massive international discussion about the need to extend fundamental rights to animals for their own sake, not in relation to how they can be exploited by humans.

“Thanks to this settlement, sales of the photographs that Naruto indisputably took will help protect and support him, his community of macaques, and their Indonesian home”.

Both sides said in a joint statement: “PETA and David Slater agree that this case raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal rights for non-human animals, a goal that they both support, and they will continue their respective work to achieve this goal.

“As we learn more about Naruto, his community of macaques, and all other animals, we must recognize appropriate fundamental legal rights for them as our fellow global occupants and members of their own nations who want only to live their lives and be with their families.

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“To further these goals, David Slater will donate 25% of future gross revenue from the Monkey Selfie photographs to charitable organizations dedicated to protecting and improving the welfare and habitat of Naruto and crested black macaques in Indonesia”.

The story of the selfie began in 2011 when Mr Slater traveled to Sulawesi, Indonesia, and spent a week taking pictures of macaques.

He says that he gradually persuaded the monkeys to press the shutter on his camera while looking into the lens, meaning the photo is more his than theirs.

He earned a few thousand pounds from the pictures but in 2014 he asked blog Techdirt and Wikipedia to take them down for using them without permission.

They refused and said that the copyright was with the monkey.

The US Copyright Office ruled that animals cannot own copyright but PETA sued in 2015.

In an interview earlier this year Mr Slater said that he wanted a career change because he was unable to even pay his income taxes.

He said he would even consider becoming a tennis coach and that he could not afford to run a car.

Me Slater said that his seven-year-old daughter should inherit the copyright to the photo but it was now “worthless”.

He said: “Every photographer dreams of a photograph like this.

“If everybody gave me a pound for every time they used (it) I’d probably have £40m in my pocket... the proceeds from these photographs should have me comfortable now, and I’m not”.