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| Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce Co-Director Kathy Jo VanderLaan and Greenville City Manager George Bosanic are happy to hear that all fees have been dropped to keep Greenville’s “Little Mermaid” statue. |
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7/31/2009 10:02:00 PM
Mermaid Freed
Jessica Dudenhofer
Staff Writer
GREENVILLE - Apparently the controversy was more than the estate of Edvard Eriksen anticipated after asking the city of Greenville $3,800 for having a replica of Copenhagen's "Little Mermaid" statue in their Tower Riverside Park.
"I received a letter this week from the Artists Right Society (ARS) saying that 'the estate of the sculptor Edvard Eriksen has decided to withdraw all of its claims thereto,'" said Greenville City Manager George Bosanic.
This means that Greenville can keep its mermaid statue without paying any fines to the estate of Eriksen, the sculptor of the original mermaid statue.
Eriksen created the original "Little Mermaid" statue in 1913 as a tribute to Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. Sitting at the harbor in Copenhagen, Denmark, the statue draws an estimated 1.5 million visitors a year.
Greenville's bronze "Little Mermaid" was created by Lakeview artist Steve Willison and given to the city of Greenville in 1994 as a gift from the Danish Festival Board. Part of a citywide collection of statues that portray Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, the mermaid sits about 30 inches tall and is bolted to a rock along the Flat River.
After all the news attention to the copyright issue with the mermaid, including a widely read story in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, the estate of Edvard Eriksen had ARS contacted Bosanic.
"We had a meaningful discussion regarding a settlement," Bosanic said.
By Tuesday, Bosanic had received notice from the president of ARS that all fees had been canceled for mermaid replica.
"We are delighted, obviously," said Kathy Jo VanderLaan of the Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce. "I mean, the darn thing cost $10,000 or so to put up and we were going to have to pay almost half that."
Bosanic said he was encouraged by the outpouring of support to "save the mermaid" in recent weeks. Checks arrived from as far way as Florida and offers to donate mermaid pins to raise money were some of the unexpected offerings.
"If there was a Danish rat that turned us in to the ARS, I'd like to thank them," Bosanic said. "Because this turned out into really good publicity for Greenville."
VanderLaan said the infiltration of Greenville's mermaid plight was overwhelming.
"Greenville has received more international recognition for the mermaid than for Electrolux," she said.
Bosanic admits he's glad the whole situation cleared up favorably for the city so he can get back to more pressing items of business for the city.
"Pardon the pun," he said with a laugh. "But I've got other fish to fry."
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Posted: Monday, August 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Joe D.
George is a good man. Good for this city.
Posted: Monday, August 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Joe
"Other fish to fry"??? Is he suggesting that the Mermaid is a fish? Everyone knows a Mermaid is a real person...I think it's an aweful thing when people start making fun of a mermaid's disablity!
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