Satellite Photo Captures 'B-A-N-A-N-A': Monkey Army Demands Royalties Paid in Bananas

The grand prize winner at an international contest turned out to be a satellite photo showing thousands of monkeys arranged in perfect formation spelling out ‘B-A-N-A-N-A.’ A lawyer claiming to represent the monkeys insists ’this is clearly an artwork’ and demands 10 tons of premium bananas weekly as royalties. The satellite company is now urgently calculating the cost of airlifting fruit to the jungle.

The definition of art is trembling in outer space. The grand prize at the recently concluded “World Satellite Imaging Awards” went to a single photograph captured by major space development company “Global Orbit Visions (GOV).” The image depicts thousands of primates in an unexplored South American jungle, arranged in orderly formation to spell out “B-A-N-A-N-A” in the alphabet—a magnificent and enigmatic work. Judges showered it with superlatives: “a miraculous fusion of nature and intelligence” and “postmodern land art using the earth as its canvas.”

However, the celebratory mood was short-lived. Immediately after the award announcement, GOV’s legal department received a letter. The sender was Samuel Chambers, senior partner at the international law firm “Monkey & Partners.” In the letter, Chambers claimed to be the official representative of “the Monkey Collective, creators of said artwork.” He stated, “This is not a random phenomenon but a deliberate collective expression with clear intent, and copyright belongs to the creators,” demanding “10 tons of premium ripe bananas weekly” as payment in kind for use of the work.

The company descended into chaos. The legal department was at a loss over this unprecedented case of “copyright claims by animals,” with every precedent database remaining silent. The PR department worried about brand damage from being “the company that fights monkeys in court,” while the procurement department reportedly began urgent calculations on the logistics and costs of airdropping 10 tons of bananas over the jungle “without compromising quality and with consideration for the ecosystem.”

This peculiar negotiation has sent ripples through academia as well. Dr. Amelia Walsh, an intellectual property authority at Harvard University, excitedly remarked, “This is the ultimate joke—that when humanity first makes contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, it might not be in the language of mathematics or physics, but in the format of copyright law documentation.” Meanwhile, Professor Emeritus Gonzaemon Yamada of Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute expressed understanding for the monkeys’ position: “For them, bananas are not mere food. They symbolize social status, respect, and artistic compensation. The demand is perfectly reasonable.”

On social media, hashtags like #BananaForArt and #MonkeyRights are circulating worldwide, with heated debates including “Humanity has finally lost to monkeys in art” and “Should I claim copyright for the scratch marks my cat made?” Some contemporary artists have even expressed eager interest in collaborating with the Monkey Collective.

GOV now faces the ultimate choice: whether to proceed with an unprecedented lawsuit, or to sign “the first-ever interspecies art licensing agreement” and airlift bananas weekly. The legal framework and corporate ethics humanity has built are now being tested by the weight of yellow fruit thrust upon them from the jungle.

Stakeholder Comments

• Monkey Representative (alleged individual): “Ooh-ooh! Eek-eek! (Translation: Words are unnecessary. Our art speaks through action.)”
• Attorney Samuel Chambers: “My clients are prepared to come to the negotiating table. Of course, we expect quality bananas to be arranged on that table.”
• GOV CEO: “How am I supposed to explain this at the shareholders’ meeting… Would ‘investing in monkeys’ be accepted as a growth strategy?”
• GOV Chief Legal Officer: “The word ‘monkey’ doesn’t appear anywhere in the legal code. But B-A-N-A-N-A is clearly written in that satellite photo…”
• Professor Amelia Walsh (IP Law): “This is a new frontier in contract law. How ironic that the first step in interspecies communication is an ‘invoice.’”
• Professor Emeritus Gonzaemon Yamada (Primatology): “Ten tons might actually be modest. Considering the alpha male’s share, they could demand more without reproach.”
• Contemporary Artist: “I can’t help but feel jealous. I don’t have the charisma to mobilize thousands of monkeys.”
• Banana: “Finally, the era has come when our value is measured not in money, but in art. Deeply moving.”
• Jungle: “Well, a bit of excitement like this isn’t bad once in a while. Too quiet gets boring anyway.”
• The Concept of Copyright: “Wait, I apply to animals too…? Nobody told me…”

International Expressions

Haiku

• Monkey letters / Viewed from space above / Banana dreams
• Winter sky / Ten tons of bananas / Who will eat them all
• Copyright / Vanishes in the jungle / Bird of law takes flight
• Satellite peeks / Down upon the forest floor / Yellow dreams await
• Gleefully they formed / Letters that now hold a price / Monkeys celebrate
• In the courtroom stands / An unlikely opponent / A troop of primates
• Yellow fruit shakes / The foundations of IP / Where to draw the line
• What is art, you ask / The monkeys laugh in reply / No words needed here
• The contract awaits / Signed perhaps with muddy prints / Handshake of the wild
• Across the vast sky / Echoes the demand loud / Ooh-ooh-eek-eek calls

Kanji / Chinese Characters

国際衛星写真最優秀賞 数千猿陣形描文字 B-A-N-A-N-A 代理人弁護士芸術主張 使用料週十噸高級バナナ要求

Emoji

🛰️📸➡️🌳🐒🐒🐒➡️🍌🍌🍌➡️👨‍⚖️➡️📄➡️💰(🍌)➡️✈️➡️🌳

Onomatopoeia

Click… Rustle rustle… Ooh-ooh-eek! Flip flip… Tap-tap-tap… (In the office) Panic panic… Chatter chatter… (From the sky) Whoooosh… Thud thud thud! Munch munch… Ooh!

SNS

• #HumanArtPeaksHere
• #BananaStandard
• #WhoIsThisMonkeyLawyer
• #MyDogMightInvoiceMeForPawPrintArtNext
• #HangInThereGOV
• #TheEndOfCopyright
• #BananaFarmerSeeingOpportunity
• #CrossTheInterspeciesBarrierWithBananas
• #TheseMonkeysAreDefinitelyGeniuses
• #ThisIsBasicallySciFiNow