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The Little Mermaid statue on Flat River, Greenville Michigan

On the banks of Flat River in Greenville Michigan sits a near-replica of The Little Mermaid statue in Denmark.  map

Greenville's Flat River Mermaid.
Greenville's Flat River Mermaid. Photo © Catherine Behnke.

The face of the statue is quite drastically different, and very distinct. Nonetheless, the Flat River mermaid became the center of an international controversy concerning the copyrights of the original sculptor, Edvard Eriksen.

The City of Greenville was sued by Eriksen’s heirs for copyright infringement in 2009, 15 years after the flat River mermaid was sculpted by David Willison.  The lawsuit was later dropped.

At 30 inches, it is a little over half the size of the Danish statue.

The inscription near the statue reads:

The Little Mermaid

In one of Hans Christian Andersen’s best known fairy tales, a mermaid must choose between her love for a prince and life under the sea.  This replica of the Edvard Eriksen statue that graces the harbor in Copenhagen, Denmark, was crafted by artist Steve Willison and dedicated on August 18, 1994, by the Danish Festival Board in honor of this area’s proud Danish heritage.

Greenville's Little Mermaid Statue by David Willison.  Photo © by Claudette Baldwin
Greenville's Flat River Mermaid.  Photo © Griffith Photography.
Greenville Mermaid Close-up
Greenville's Little Mermaid Statue.  Photo © by Darrin Clark
Greenville's Flat River Mermaid.  Photo © Catherine Behnke.
The Greenville replica of The Little Mermaid. Bronze replica by David Willison.
Greenville's Flat River Mermaid.  Photo © Catherine Behnke.

This is one of the many copies of Edvard Eriksen's original mermaid statue placed in Copenhagen harbor in 1913.

[TLMReplicas]

References:
● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid_(statue)
● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenville,_Michigan
● http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/06/little_mermaid.html
● The Little Mermaid (Copenhagen, Denmark) 
● The Mermaids of Earth coffee-table book: See page 116 in the book about this sculpture.

Mermaids of Earth coffee-table book

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