Actor Kevin Costner has won a legal battle with an artist, which will allow him to keep sculptures of Native Americans hunting bison at his South Dakota museum.
The Dances With Wolves star commissioned artist Peggy Detmers to create 17 bronze man-and-beast figures, so he could display them at a proposed five-star resort.
The hotel plans fell through and the actor donated the Lakota Bison Jump collection to his Tatanka tourist attraction near Deadwood.
Detmers filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the star in 2009, insisting she had not agreed to the placement change.
In a court decision delivered this week (ends01Jul11), Circuit Judge Randall MACy ruled in favour of Costner.
He said, "Her significant involvement in the Tatanka project and her failure to tell Costner or anyone else that she did not agree with placement at Tatanka indicate she was agreeable to the sculptures' placement at Tatanka for the long term."
And Costner is glad the legal battle is over.
Jim Nelson, Costner's attorney, tells the Rapid City Journal, "This was absolutely the right decision. The facts show she agreed to a permanent location of the sculptures at the Tatanka location... (Costner is) well satisfied with the decision."