Hirst pays up in toy row

The bad boy of Brit Art causes controversy again

Artist Damien Hirst has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to charity to settle a copyright row sparked by his latest work.

Hull-based toy company Humbrol said Hirst's 20ft bronze sculpture, Hymn - recently sold for £1m - was a direct copy of its Young Scientist Anatomy Set.

Neither side would reveal the size of the payment in lieu of royalties on the sale. The money will go to two children's charities - Children Nationwide and the Toy Trust.

Humbrol's anatomical model

Hirst said: "I'm delighted that this matter is settled to the satisfaction of all parties concerned."

But the toy's designer, Norman Emms, told The Guardian that the sum was less than he had hoped for.

The artist has also agreed restrictions on future reproductions of the figure, which Hirst admitted in a newspaper interview had been inspired by his son Connor's anatomy set.

Humbrol sells more than 10,000 of the £14.99 plastic kits each year.

'Masterpiece'

Hymn is the centrepiece of the current exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London called Ant Noises - an anagram of sensation, the title of an earlier landmark showing of Saatchi's Brit Art collection.

The sculpture has been described by one critic as "a masterpiece" and "the first key work of British art for the 21st Century".

The artist, known for his installations displaying animals in formaldehyde, was involved in another copyright row last year.

He threatened to sue British Airways over advertisements using coloured dots for the low-cost airline, Go, which he claimed had copied his spot paintings.