Unconditional Surrender deal is done

With just hours to spare before a final deadline passed, the owners of Unconditional Surrender supplied the city with the documents required to complete the sculpture’s donation to the city.

If the sculpture passes a maintenance check within the next 30 days, which is expected, it will rest on the bayfront for at least the next 10 years.

Eleven months of legal back and forth ended today, when the Sculpture Foundation, which owns Unconditional Surrender, provided the city attorney’s office with paperwork that guarantees it will indemnify the city in the case of a copyright-infringement lawsuit.

Because the sculpture closely resembles a famous Life magazine photo of a World War II sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, city management feared that Time Life, the owners of that photograph, may sue the city.

The Sculpture Foundation has agreed to completely cover the cost of any such lawsuit.

Sarasota resident and World War II veteran Jack Curran will buy Unconditional Surrender for $500,000 and donate it to the city. His main requirement for that donation is that the sculpture stay on the bayfront for at least 10 years. After that time, the city is free to do with it what it wants.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected].