The United States Postal Service has been hit with a $3.5 million judgment for putting an image of the wrong Statue of Liberty on a postage stamp, a report says.
Federal Judge Eric Bruggink, of the Washington DC-based United States Court of Federal Claims, sided with Las Vegas sculptor Robert Davidson who charged the Post Office with using an image of his homage to the Statue of Liberty on its 2011 Forever stamp, according to the New York Times.
Davidson’s version of Lady Liberty stands outside the New-York-New York casino-resort on the Las Vegas Strip, and it was an image of his handiwork that appeared on the stamp, he says without his permission.
The Post Office issued the stamps for at least three months in 2011 before realizing that the photo was not of the actual Statue of Liberty but Davidson’s casino decoration.
Lawyers for the Post Office argued that the Statue of Liberty image can’t be copyrighted and Davidson’s claim was invalid. But Judge Bruggink, a Ronald Reagan appointee, disagreed with the Post Office saying that Davidson’s design was unique because it features a more feminine and “sexy” version of the famed motif.
Judge Bruggink also noted that the $3.5 million judgment is only a tiny slice of the $70 million the Postal Service made selling the stamp.
Davidson’s attorney was pleased with the decision.
“As the court noted, Mr. Davidson’s artistic creation of the Las Vegas Lady Liberty is highly unique and attractive, which is what prompted the US Postal Service to select a photo of his work for the second ever Forever Stamp, over hundreds of other images,” attorney Todd Bice said.
The Post Office is reviewing its options on appealing the decision and has released no statement about the ruling.
The Post Office has stirred controversy with past stamp issues. In 1989, for instance, scientists slammed the Post Office’s dinosaur stamps because two of the four creatures were mislabeled. The brontosaurus stamps featured an image of the apatosauruses and the stamp featuring the pteranodon was questioned because the flying animal is not a dinosaur at all.
In 1994 the Postal Service made to commemorate famed black rodeo star Bill Pickett, but unfortunately 20 million stamps featuring an image of his brother, Ben Pickett, were printed instead.
In 2008 the Post Office printed a 42 cent stamp featuring a U.S. Flag with an extra, 14th Stripe on it.
Finally, in 2013 the Post Office kicked up some controversy after it put out a flyer to announce its holiday stamps featuring stamps to celebrate Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, but neglected to mention the word Christmas opting instead for just a drawing of a gingerbread house.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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