Heirs Press Creator's Claim to Rio's Christ

RIO DE JANEIRO — For 73 years, the colossal white figure of Christ the Redeemer, this city's best-known icon, has gazed beatifically out to sea from its lofty perch on a mountain high above the madding crowd. Visible from nearly every part of Rio, the giant statue with outstretched arms is such a ubiquitous presence that residents, when asked who owns it, are prone to say, "Everybody."

Not so fast.

A family in faraway France has caused a minor stir here by claiming the copyright to the beloved figure and all royalties stemming from its reproduction -- a potential fortune judging by the multitude of T-shirts, postcards, paperweights, key rings, figurines, magnets, placemats, porcelain plates and other souvenirs bearing the monument's likeness.

The descendants of Paul Landowski, the sculptor who fashioned the statue's massive head and hands, say that a 1998 Brazilian law on artistic authorship entitles them to the rights to the use of the statue's image. Apparently concluding that the meek won't inherit much, the family has hired lawyers to press its claim, in court if necessary.

But the demand has touched a raw nerve of patriotic indignation among some people who believe that Brazil's cultural heritage -- and possibly those of other countries -- is on the line.

"It belongs to mankind," actor Bemvindo Siqueira said of the monument. If Landowski's heirs succeed in their quest, "you could start a never-ending claim of property rights," he warned. "After the Christ, the Statue of Liberty could be next."

The family's Brazilian lawyers dismiss such an extreme scenario. They have no problem with calling the Christ statue a national treasure; in fact, they quite agree. Just give credit where credit is due, they say.

"We're not talking about who it belongs to. We're talking about rights of authorship," said Maria Luiza de Freitas Valle Egea, one of the family's attorneys, who is based in Sao Paulo. "The whole world knows that Paul Landowski was the sculptor of Christ the Redeemer."

Landowski was part of a team of artists and engineers commissioned by civic and church leaders to design, build and erect the concrete and soapstone statue in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Brazil's independence from Portugal, in 1922. The foundation stone was laid that year atop Corcovado ("hunchback") mountain, on a spur jutting 2,300 feet above sea level.