Artist says CA must halt use of whale tail plates

• Kentucky.com
• June 25, 2008
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A whopper of a fight has escalated over who should benefit from the proceeds of California's popular whale tail license plate. Artist Robert Wyland, who created the image and gave it to the state to help raise funds for marine programs, said he would announce at a press conference Wednesday that the state can no longer use his work. Wyland and his attorneys have been unsuccessfully demanding that 20 percent of the plate royalties go to his nonprofit conservation foundation - an estimated $750,000 per year. "At the end of the day, it's my art," Wyland, 51, said Tuesday. Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, which negotiated the original deal with Wyland, said the state won't stop using the plate until a replacement image is found. The commission negotiated a handshake deal with...