NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Don't mess with an artist and his bull.

That's the message from artist Arturo Di Modica, who created the iconic "Charging Bull" statue in downtown New York, as he filed a copyright lawsuit against a number of business for using images of the bull in their advertising or selling photographs of the tourist attraction without his permission, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The "Charging Bull" statue, located in downtown Manhattan, is at the center of a copyright lawsuit.

Wal-Mart (Charts) and North Fork Bancorp (Charts) are among the businesses targeted in Di Modica's lawsuit. Di Modica, who registered a copyright on the bull in 1998, is seeking any profits derived from the sale of any unauthorized photographs or the use of the image in national advertising campaigns.

Di Modica is also seeking to destroy or impound any copies of the bull's image that are being distributed without his permission.

The statue, which symbolizes Wall Street's rebound after the 1987 stock market, has been a Manhattan landmark for 17 years, drawing droves of tourists.

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