In the movie “2012”, by German director Roland Emmerich, the Christ the Redeemer is destroyed along with other famous buildings around the world. The use of the image of the famous statue in Rio, however, was not authorized by the Archdiocese of Rio, which now seeks compensation for distributor Columbia Pictures for misuse.

According to Claudine Dutra, head of legal department of the archdiocese, the negotiation is being done amicably and there is still no action against Columbia and not a stipulated amount of damages.

“They came to us in pre-production of the film, I think in 2008, for permission and it was denied. Even so, they used the Christ in the movie, “said the lawyer.

The general direction of Columbia said the case is being handled by lawyers in Los Angeles, the United States.

According to a spokesperson for the archdiocese, Christ the Redeemer is owned by the church and therefore the court would have the right to deny use of the image of the statue.

Apology

Also according to Claudine, in December 2009, one month after the premiere of the film, Columbia has received a notification and the lawyers of the distributor is portrayed in a meeting with the staff of the archdiocese.

In the document, according to the archdiocese, they apologized by saying that “under no circumstances use the statue in the film ‘2012 ‘had the intention to cause injury or otherwise attacked or harmed the image of the church or the Catholic faith.”

“We understand, but that is not enough. There was the misuse of the image, the faithful looked angry, “said the lawyer.

There remains some questions, such as:

The monument of Christ, was built by public subscription, which means it was the people who paid, so if someone needs to get some sort of compensation, this should not be someone the people?