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Brazil's Catholic Church Sues Columbia Pictures Over Use of Statue In Film

By Howard M. Friedman

AFP reports that the Catholic archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is suing Columbia Pictures for unauthorized use of its famous Christ the Redeemer statue in the motion picture 2012. The disaster movie shows the famous landmark being destroyed by a giant wave in a worldwide apocalypse. The archdiocese holds the copyright on the famous Paul Landowski statute that overlooks the city until is expires in 2032. Usually the archdiocese grants permission for movie producers to use the statute, but it refused to do so in pre-production negotiations. Columbia Pictures used the statute anyway. Negotiations to settle the lawsuit have been under way since December, a month after the movie was released. The Archdiocese wants Columbia Pictures to publicly declare that it did not intend to cause offense.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).