Assuming that Mr. Slater is unable to establish that the original monkey selfie is entitled to copyright protection
in the United States, one wonders whether he might be able to argue that he is the author of a derivative
work based on the original image. It is theoretically possible for Mr. Slater to have a copyright interest
in a derivative work, which is based on the original monkey selfie, even if the original work is not entitled
to copyright protection.