The FDNY Statue Petition: Online | PDF
Courtesy of
The New York Post
The owners of a photograph showing three firefighters raising an American flag amid the World Trade Center ruins are threatening legal action to prevent a bronze statue from being built outside FDNY headquarters.
The FDNY and developer Forest City Ratner want to build a 19-foot statue inspired by the photograph - but they have allegedly failed to obtain copyright permission - and they don't want the statue to depict the three white firefighters who actually raised the flag.
Instead, the FDNY and Forest City Ratner want the statue to depict one white, one black and one Hispanic man - a move that has angered many firefighters, who say a historic moment should be accurately recorded.
Jennifer Borg, vice president and general counsel for New Jersey Media Group - the publisher of The Record of Hackensack, which owns the photo - said the photo captured a historic moment that should not be altered."
Lawyer Bill Kelly, who is representing the media group and the three firefighters depicted in the photo, said Forest City Ratner and the FDNY had made approaches to obtain a copyright license.
But while discussions were being held, Forest City Ratner unveiled the planned statue without consulting the firefighters or The Record, he claimed. Kelly said an injunction would be sought after Jan. 27 to stop the statue unless the proposal was altered.
A spokesman for Forest City Ratner, which owners the MetroTech site that houses FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn, did not return calls.
The firefighters depicted in the photograph, snapped by Thomas Franklin are Dan McWilliams, George Johnson and Billy Eisengrein.
Related:
