The Las Vegas artist behind the Statue of Liberty replica outside New York-New York will have several million reasons to celebrate this Independence Day.
Robert Davidson was awarded nearly $3.6 million last week by a federal court that ruled the U.S. Postal Service infringed his copyright when it mistakenly used an image of his statue on a stamp.
The government agency began issuing the stamp that depicted a close-up of the Las Vegas-based Lady Liberty in December 2010. The Postal Service believed it was the face of the Lady Liberty that has stood in the New York Harbor since 1886.
“Originally, they didn’t know it wasn’t the real Liberty, but it is a great picture, so I’m not at all surprised that they would use it,” said Randy Shepard, owner of Vegas Stamps and Hobbies on West Washington Avenue and North Rainbow Boulevard. “And I think it’s pretty cool that it ended being a Vegas statue.”
Davidson did not return a request for comment, but his lawyer Todd Bice released a statement to the Review-Journal Tuesday.
“Robert Davidson is pleased that after a full trial, the Federal Court of Claims recognized the significance of his artistic work in creating the Las Vegas Lady Liberty statue and enforcing his copyright,” said Bice, of the Las Vegas law firm Pisanelli Bice.
Bice said he expects the Postal Service to appeal the decision.
More Feminine
Davidson, born and raised in Las Vegas, completed the Statue of Liberty replica in 1996 for MGM Resorts International when the casino operator opened its latest theme casino New York-New York.
Davidson said in court documents that he wanted to give his replica a face that was “a little more modern, a little more feminine” and looked for inspiration from a photograph of his mother-in-law, Lucille Schwartz.
The Las Vegas replica stands 150 feet tall from base to torch and weighs 150 tons compared with 305 feet, pedastal foundation to tip of torch, and 225 tons for the original statue. The replica took 11 months to complete.
Davidson spent $152,000 on material and labor to complete his part of the statue, including the face. He was paid a total of $385,000 for his work, according to court documents.
The artist placed a small plaque in memory of his mother-in-law on the crown of the statue.
Patriotic Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service began a search in the late 2000s for a new “patriotic” stamp to replace the image of the Liberty Bell that had been in circulation for years.
A postal committee decided to issue two separate stamps, one of the Statue of Liberty and one of the U.S. flag.
Terry McCaffrey, a Postal Service manager in charge of choosing the image for the new stamps, searched a stock photo database provided to him by contractor PhotoAssist for images of the flag and Lady Liberty.
The U.S. Postal Service had used an image of the Statue of Liberty on a stamp 23 times in the past. Thus, McCaffrey wanted to find an image that “was very different from anything we’ve done before,” according to the court documents.
The manager initially selected 24 photos before picking the two winners, which included the photo of Davidson’s replica. McCaffrey paid $1,200 to Getty Images for the license to use the photo.
The Postal Service manager thought he had chosen a photo depicting the actual statue in New York, according to court documents.
The U.S. Postal Service began issuing the stamps in December 2010. In March 2011, an employee at Sunipix, a stock photography company, notified the Postal Service that the Lady Liberty on the stamp was the Las Vegas replica, according to court documents. The documents do not say how the employee spotted the difference. By then, the Postal Service had produced billions of stamps with Davidson’s Lady Liberty.
Upon hearing what happened, Davidson copyrighted his creation and filed suit in November 2013 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for infringement.
“If my name was on the stamp, then everybody would immediately recognize it was me,’’ Davidson said when asked why he sought compensation, according to court records.
4.9 Billion Stamps
About 4.9 billion stamps with Davidson’s Lady Liberty were sold, generating $2.1 billion in sales for the Postal Service, according to court filings. The Postal Service estimates it made a $71 million profit on the sale of the stamps.
“It’s a fairly common stamp,” Shepard said, adding that the stamp is popular as well.
“Ironically, the more popular the stamp, the less collector’s value it has,” he said.
The Postal Service argued in court that Davidson’s replica contains “no truly original work” and thus it need not compensate him.
The court said a replica can be copyrighted if it is a new and original expression of a previous work.
Davidson’s Lady Liberty face is “unmistakably different” from the original statue and that is what drove McCaffrey to choose it, the court ruled. The Postal Service could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Davidson hopes that the Postal Service will at long last own up to what it did and recognizing his rights,” Bice said in the statement.
LAS VEGAS – James J. Pisanelli and Todd L. Bice, founding partners of Pisanelli Bice PLLC, announced today that five attorneys from the firm were recognized on the list of Legal Elite 2018 by Nevada Business Magazine. The 11th annual list highlights the state’s most outstanding attorneys voted on by their peers.
James (Jim) Pisanelli was among select attorneys honored on the Legal Elite list of Southern Nevada’s Top Attorneys, along with Attorneys Dustun Holmes, Magali Mercera, Kirill Mikhaylov and Robert Ryan. Ms. Mercera also was recognized as one of the Best Up and Coming attorneys. This is the second notable recognition for Mercera who, earlier this year, was named one of 2018’s Women to Watch by Vegas Inc. magazine.
Legal Elite is an annual list honoring exceptional attorneys in Nevada. Lawyers are selected for Legal Elite based on peer nominations, and ranked according to where votes originated. This year’s Legal Elite polling included nearly 6,000 nominations. The attorneys featured on Legal Elite 2018 garnered the top voting scores throughout the state.
While there are currently 8,962 attorneys in the state, only 3 percent were featured on this year’s Legal Elite list for Nevada, and only 54 attorneys were included on the Best Up and Coming list. For more information about Legal Elite or Nevada Business Magazine, go to https://www.nevadabusiness.com.
James J. Pisanelli and Todd L. Bice, founding partners of Pisanelli Bice, announce that Kirill V. Mikhaylov has joined the firm as an associate attorney.
Mr. Mikhaylov will primarily practice commercial litigation. He has represented clients in a variety of matters, including professional negligence, contract disputes, construction defect, general liability, product defect, and shareholder derivative cases.
“We are pleased to welcome Kirill to the firm,” said James Pisanelli, partner of Pisanelli Bice. “His background and legal acumen will be a nice asset for our commercial litigation practice.”
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The Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada recognized attorneys for joining the 100 Hours Club for their pro bono efforts:
– Law Firm Rising Star: Pisanelli Bice
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Pisanelli Bice’s M. Magali Mercera was named in Vegas, Inc.‘s 11th Annual: Women to Watch”, which recognizes women whom they believe are going to make a difference in the coming months.
