An artist has sued Random House Inc. for using a picture of the famous Wall Street bull on the cover of the new book, “A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers.”

The book–written by Lawrence G. McDonald–uses a photo of the raging bull statue that adorns a busy Manhattan strip near Wall Street. According to the Wall Street Journal, artist Arturo Di Modica claims the cover picture was unauthorized. The article also recounts the strange story of how the 17,000-pound statue ended up there in the first place.

Here’s a comment from the publisher: “‘Random House has not yet been served and we do not comment on pending litigation,’ said David Drake, a Random House spokesman.” (Via MobyLives)