Post Office Ordered To Pay $3.5 Million Over Lady Liberty Stamp

The Las Vegas sculptor who created the replica of the Statue of Liberty that sits in front of the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Sin City has won a lawsuit against the United States Postal Service. Robert Davidson sued the USPS after they used an image of his replica for a series of Forever stamps created in 2010. Davidson argued that his replica "brought a new face to the iconic statue - a face which audiences found appeared more 'fresh-faced,' 'sultry' and even 'sexier' than the original located in New York."

The postal service countered that because his statue was a replica and did not contain any original work, his copyright claim was invalid. A federal judge agreed with Davidson and awarded him $3.5 million in damages. 

Judge Eric Bruggink wrote that "a comparison of the two faces unmistakably shows that they are different” which makes the "the statue his own creation."

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