Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., North Fork Bancorp and eight other companies were sued by the sculptor who created the ``Charging Bull'' statue near Wall Street for unfairly profiting from his copyrighted work.

Arturo Di Modica claimed the companies are selling knockoff copies of his sculpture or using images of the famous statue in ad campaigns without his permission, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court.

``Wal-Mart is knowingly and willfully selling and marketing direct copies of plaintiff's subject work to the public,'' Di Modica said in his suit, adding that he ``has lost and will continue to lose substantial revenues.''

Wal-Mart is selling ``photographic and/or lithographic copies'' of the sculpture, according to the complaint. Others are unfairly profiting ``by incorporating images of the Charging Bull into advertising campaigns and into the graphics associated with particular television programs,'' Di Modica said.

Also named in the suit were Art.com, American Vision Gallery, Bluestone Designs, Igor Maloratsky, Photoframesplus.com, Bruce Teleky, S.G. Martin Securities and an unspecified number of unnamed defendants.

Di Modica surreptitiously placed the sculpture in front of the New York Stock Exchange overnight in December 1989, using a forklift. The sculpture became ``an immediate sensation,'' Di Modica said in court papers.

Public Support

When New York City police hauled the 7,000-pound bronze bull away, ``overwhelming public support persuaded the city administration to arrange'' for its return, the suit said.

The piece is now on loan to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation who placed the sculpture at the terminus of Broadway, in Bowling Green Park, in New York's financial district.

The suit seeks a court order blocking continued use of his sculpture, an award of damages and attorneys' fees.

Di Modica received a U.S. copyright on the work in 1998, according to court papers. In 2004, Di Modica said he would sell the statue if the buyer agreed to leave it in place.

``We haven't been served with the suit and can't comment on something we haven't seen,'' said John Simley, a spokesman for Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart. Daniel M. Healy, a spokesman for Melville, New York-based North Fork, didn't return a call seeking comment left after business hours.

The case is Di Modica v. North Fork, 06-CV-7210, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff St.Onge in Washington jstonge@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 21, 2006 19:10 EDT