The Wikimedia Foundation yesterday insisted it would not remove from its website a "selfie" taken by a mischievous monkey, despite claims from the British photographer whose camera was used that it breached his copyright.

David Slater says he is the owner of the photo of the grinning black crested macaque that went viral when he posted it online in 2011, and is threatening to sue Wikimedia for lost earnings of up to $30,000.

Slater was with a party of Dutch researchers on a small group of Indonesian islands when the curious primates began rummaging through his possessions.

He described how one snatched his camera and began pressing the shutter button, in the process taking a perfectly composed selfie.