An animal welfare group has filed a US lawsuit claiming a selfie snapping monkey owns the intellectual rights to its famous photo and not the British wildlife photographer who published it.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are suing on behalf of Naruto, a six-year-old macaque from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Naruto's cheeky grin became famous worldwide after he grabbed the camera from Slater and took a series of self-portraits in 2011.

PETA filed a suit in federal court in San Francisco against Slater, who claims copyright ownership of the iconic image.

"Our argument is simple: U.S. copyright law doesn't prohibit an animal from owning a copyright, and since Naruto took the photo, he owns the copyright, as any human would," a statement from PETA said.

"If this lawsuit succeeds, it will be the first time that a non-human animal is declared the owner of property (the copyright of the 'monkey selfie'), rather than being declared a piece of property.

"It will also be the first time that a right is extended to a non-human animal beyond just the mere basic necessities of food, shelter, water, and veterinary care. In our view, it is high time."

The animal rights group have asked for proceeds from sales of the image to go towards "Naruto and his community, without compensation to PETA".

Slater has previously disputed any claims against his ownership of copyright for the images.

"The facts are that I was the intellect behind the photos, I set the whole thing up," he said to The Guardian .