SAN FRANCISCO — A monkey in court may seem like a joke, but lawyers representing Naruto the crested macaque insist their client's case is no laughing matter.

In a brief filed Friday in the “monkey selfie” case, lawyers with Irell & Manella stressed the importance of their argument that copyright protection isn't exclusive to human authors.

“While the circumstances presented here are novel, the issue is anything but trivial,” the lawyers wrote in opposition to defendants' motion to dismiss.