Photographer Kim Taylor Reece has prevailed in a controversial lawsuit in which he alleged a stained-glass artist had made an illegal copy of one of his photos.

The suit was settled Friday and requires Island Treasures Art Gallery in Kailua and artist Marylee Leialoha Colucci to pay Reece $60,000 for attorney's fees, according to Reece and his attorney, Mark Bernstein.

The stained-glass work at the center of the suit also cannot be publicly displayed, sold or offered for sale, Bernstein said. And Colucci cannot make other works that copy Reece photographs. Meanwhile, Colucci and Gail Allen, the owner of the art gallery, accept no guilt as part of the settlement.

The case spurred anger among some Native Hawaiians, who accused Reece of trying to copyright a well-known hula pose. They also said the suit was part of a widescale effort to trademark pieces of Hawaiian culture.

"The issue is not one painting. The issue is not one sculpture. The issue is who is he (Reece) to own that pose?" said Wayne Panoke, executive director of the 'Ilioulaokalani Coalition. "As far as I'm concerned, he'll never own it."

Panoke said the settlement did not answer the fundamental question many had of how a hula pose can be protected under copyright laws. But Reece's lawyer, Bernstein, said the lawsuit was never about a pose — but an image.