Apr 13, 2017

Why the "Charging Bull" is firing back at the "Fearless Girl"

Becca Rotenberg

Bebeto Matthews / AP

Italian-born sculptor Arturo Di Modica erected the "Charging Bull" statue in 1987 without a permit, in the middle of the night, outside the New York Stock Exchange, as a symbol of American resilience after the stock market crash. Authorities removed it, only to reinstall it because of its popularity with the public.

On the morning of International Women's Day last month, Wall Street woke up to the "Fearless Girl" staring down the bull, symbolizing female empowerment. It was commissioned by State Street Global Advisors, a mutual fund company that tracks gender diversity.

"Fearless Girl" was granted an extended stay from Mayor Bill de Blasio after increased popularity.

Now, the "Charging Bull" artist is suing State Street Global Advisors, for copyright and trademark infringment, arguing that the "Fearless Girl" changes the meaning of the bull and takes away from his artistic vision.

Mayor de Blasio missed the mark, and misrepresented Di Modica's argument in a tweet yesterday saying, "Men who don't like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl."

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  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of midnight ET: 1,202,827 — Total deaths: 64,771 — Total recoveries: 246,886 — Map.
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World coronavirus updates: Confirmed cases top 1.2 million

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The number of novel coronavirus cases surpassed 1.2 million worldwide Saturday night, as Spain overtook Italy as the country with the most infections outside the U.S. The global death toll has surpassed 64,700, per Johns Hopkins data.

The latest: The United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II will speak in a televised address on the coronavirus Sunday of the "disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all," per the BBC. The U.K. death toll rose 708 to 4,313 on Saturday — the fourth highest in the world.

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Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Recorded deaths from the coronavirus surpassed 8,400 in the U.S. on Saturday, per Johns Hopkins data. The death toll in the U.S. has risen over 1,000 every day for the past four days, since April 1.

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