A Toll For The Troll Artists Sue Business For Using Image Of Sculpture In Brochure

Two co-creators of the troll sculpture under the Aurora bridge are suing a custom photofinishing business, alleging the company used the troll’s image in sales brochures without permission.

The copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by Will Martin and Ross Whitehead against Prolab Inc. seeks $100,000 in damages.

The action has stirred controversy in the Fremont neighborhood, where both the troll and the business are located.

The troll, which lurks under the bridge clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle, was the winner of a 1990 public-art contest in the neighborhood, which prides itself on its eclectic non-conformity.

The troll, selected by public vote, has become an icon in the neighborhood whose signs identify it as “The Center of the Universe.”

The Fremont Arts Council is opposing the lawsuit and has asked the troll’s creators to surrender the copyright.

“We don’t believe these artists are acting in the best interests of the community and we cannot support their action,” council member Llyle Morgan said.

Martin and Whitehead say they have made it clear from the start that they don’t want the troll commercialized.

“It’s quite ironic to me that all of this attack on a copyright is happening in Fremont, which purports to support artists,” Martin said. “The whole point of copyrights is to support artists.”

He said the troll should not be associated with business or products.

“It’s a troll,” he said. “It’s not a nice guy.”

Since the troll’s construction in 1991, the artists have reached settlements with People and Sunset magazines and the University of Washington Daily, each of which used its image without permission for other than news or personal purposes, said attorney Tom Hayton, who represents Martin and Whitehead. People magazine used the sculpture as a backdrop for a shot of a Seattle author.

Unlike another well-known sculpture in the Fremont area, “Waiting for The Interurban,” whose creator, Richard Beyer, publicly renounced his copyright, the Fremont Troll is not a public property, despite the fact that it was built with public money, Hayton said.

Artists retain the rights to their work unless they negotiate or give them away, he said.

Martin, now an architect, and Whitehead, now a construction manager, were UW students when the troll was dreamed up by them, UW architecture professor Steve Badanes and artist Donna Walter. The foursome submitted the design to the contest, which sought a public-art project to clean up a rat-infested corner under the bridge.

Badanes and Walter are not party to the lawsuit, but they support it.

“Some people seem to think that it’s public property,” Badanes said. “You can’t walk into Prolab with an image of a magazine and have them make it into a poster.”

The Fremont business community did not contribute to building the sculpture, Badanes noted.

Morgan criticized Martin and Whitehead for seeking up to $12,000 for use of the troll’s image, noting, “You can rent the Mona Lisa for $650.”

Hayton said the Mona Lisa probably is not protected by copyright.

Current copyright law extends protection 100 years after the artist’s death. Leonardo da Vinci died in 1591.

Martin and Whitehead said they have no set price, but don’t want the troll’s image taken for commercial use.

“We usually don’t affix anything but a token monetary value,” Whitehead said. When the issue comes up after the fact, as in this case, that’s when “the legal definition of compensation enters in.”

He and Martin declined to discuss specifics of their most recent settlement offer to Prolab, but said it involved, in part, a charitable contribution by the company, in its own name, to the Fremont charity of its choice.