Sculptor's heirs demand royalties for Rio landmark

Many of them leave clutching postcards, T-shirts, plates, key rings, statuettes and other souvenirs with likenesses of the majestic work of art.

But few of the statue’s admirers are aware of a legal dispute swirling around Brazil’s best-known monument.

Heirs of the work’s Polish-French sculptor, Paul Landowski, have raised the question of who owns the rights to Christ the Redeemer, saying that they should receive royalties for their relative’s work on the monument.

Now some experts worry that - after a lengthy legal battle - the heirs’ claim may eventually involve thousands of businesses that deal with souvenirs related to the statue.

"One must realise this is a much more serious problem than it appears to be," said Bemvindo Sequeira, of the Rio de Janeiro state council of copyright protection.

"A bee’s nest is being shaken. Where would we go from here? Tell me, who is going to pay Leonardo da Vinci’s heirs for the Mona Lisa likenesses sold at the Louvre Museum? It is just the tip of an iceberg. And it is a battle that can stretch over decades."

Lawyers for the Landowski family have yet to take the case to court, but they have already taken steps to lay claim to the famous image.

"We have sent notifications to some companies," said lawyer Maria Egea.

"This notification is specific to each company according to the use the company has made of the monument, clarifying the rights [of the heirs] and the necessity of authorisation."

There also is a question about how to split ownership rights. Landowski, according to the history books, shaped and sculpted the figure’s head and hands while Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa crafted the rest of the design.

"Do you honestly think they could ever get anything?" said Davi Costa, whose souvenir shop inside the railway station sells CDs bearing images of the statue. "I don’t believe they could win anything. It is a national monument, a world heritage."

The Catholic Church, which owns the area of land where the statue stands, is also sceptical. "The top, where the last step ends, belongs to the church, by federal decree. And we have documents proving that Landowski gave his rights to the monument to the Church," said Adionel Carlos da Cunha, spokesman for the Rio Archdiocese.

But Regina Bitencourt, of the Brazilian copyright association, said her organisation found no documentation to prove ownership of the monument.

"We found nothing. And if there is no documentation proving that Landowski gave up his rights, then the right of the heirs should prevail," she said.

If the case becomes a public legal issue, it would unleash the hottest controversy over the monument since its inauguration on 12 October, 1931.

The 125ft tall statue, weighing over 1,000 tons, was built between 1926 and 1931. Landowski made the pieces in France and shipped them to Brazil, where a railway carried them to the top of 2,343ft Corcovado Mountain.

Through the years, the statue has come to symbolise Rio much as the Eiffel tower represents Paris and has inspired nearly 200 similar monuments across Brazil.