This is a matter of degrees. (No, not that type of degree.)
Let's assume for the moment that the monkey, as a non-human, cannot own copyright. Therefore it is a choice between the human holding copyright and the image being in the public domain.
If a monkey draws a picture using mud on a sheet of bark that has fallen on the ground, and a human notices the picture and picks it up, does the human own copyright? (Probably not, in my opinion.)
If the monkey picks up a camera offered to it by a human, who has set up the camera, switched it on, etc., and the monkey takes a picture, does the human hold copyright? (Not sure.)
If a human sets up a camera on a tripod, pre-focusses it, sets up a motion detection system to trigger the shutter, and the monkey walks past it triggering an image to be captured, does the human hold copyright? (Definitely, in my opinion.)
>If a human sets up a camera on a tripod, pre-focusses it, sets up a motion detection system to trigger the shutter, and the monkey walks past it triggering an image to be captured, does the human hold copyright? (Definitely, in my opinion.)
Conversely, I see lots of cool pictures of people doing crazy stuff, kayakers, going off massive waterfalls, bikers doing backflips, street performers, magicians. To me it is the subject of the picture who has spent years training, he / she is what makes the picture interesting (the photographer may make the colours a bit nicer, or the focus sharper, but the subject is what makes the picture).
Yet the photographer owns the copyright.
(To be fair I kind of agree with your last point, but I think that the photographer automatically getting copyright is the problem. I doubt giving the subject ownership would be enforceable, and would likely lead to many more problems related to censorship).
Let's assume for the moment that the monkey, as a non-human, cannot own copyright. Therefore it is a choice between the human holding copyright and the image being in the public domain.
If a monkey draws a picture using mud on a sheet of bark that has fallen on the ground, and a human notices the picture and picks it up, does the human own copyright? (Probably not, in my opinion.)
If the monkey picks up a camera offered to it by a human, who has set up the camera, switched it on, etc., and the monkey takes a picture, does the human hold copyright? (Not sure.)
If a human sets up a camera on a tripod, pre-focusses it, sets up a motion detection system to trigger the shutter, and the monkey walks past it triggering an image to be captured, does the human hold copyright? (Definitely, in my opinion.)