On the banks of Copenhagen sits the famous "Little Mermaid" sculpture, a nude woman based on a local ballerina - at least in the face, the body was based on the sculptors wife. The sculpture was made in 1913 and has since suffered numerous indignities - it has been painted numerous times, been decapitated twice, had its arm sawed off, and blown up. Despite this is hasn't stopped other sculptors from wanting to copy the famous mermaid.

However those wanting to copy the statue face a serious problem which is that the statue is still under copyright and Copenhagen vigorously enforces it. (Curiously the one in Copenhagen is itself a copy as the sculptor wanted to keep the original for himself, which today is kept by his heirs in an undisclosed location.) When Greenville, Michigan created a half size copy for their towns Danish Heritage celebration, Copenhagen's "Artists Rights Society" sued them for back taxes.

Vancouver decided to get around this problem in a curious way. By "updating" the mermaid with a snazzy new wetsuit complete with snorkel mask and fins, they avoided the copyright issue while making the uniquely Vancouver "Girl in a Wetsuit" in 1972. While not as revealing as the one in Copenhagen this girl is far more ready for the water than is Copenhagen's "mermaid."