Country singer Willie Nelson allegedly has a depiction on his tour bus of a "War Chief" sketch drawn by the late Bill O'Neill, and his widow wants $900,000 for the use of it on a compact disc.

Linda O'Neill of Bozeman filed a lawsuit earlier this week in federal court in Helena, claiming that Sony Music committed copyright infringement by including three photos of the bus as part of a recent Willie Nelson CD. O'Neill said that "Willie Nelson, Revolutions of Time ... the Journey" includes 32 pages of notes and photos, and the War Chief is in photos on pages 24 and 25, as well as on the back cover of the CD.

"She hasn't authorized any use of the O'Neill works, and the reproductions are of inferior quality when compared to the original image, which injures the artistic reputation of Bill O'Neill," attorney Christopher Harris wrote in the lawsuit.

Bozeman artist Bill O'Neill was well-known for his pen and ink sketches in French pointillism style, and has been compared to Western artists such as Charles Russell and Frederic Remington. He died in 1999.

Along with actual damages of $900,000 for the copyright infringement, Linda O'Neill is seeking an unspecified amount in punitive damages for "actual malice." In addition, she wants all copies of the album displaying the War Chief impounded and destroyed.

Officials with Sony Music reached in New York said they weren't aware of the lawsuit, nor was Nelson's publicist, Elaine Shock in California.

However, Harris writes in his lawsuit that in April he sent a letter to Nicole Seligman, executive vice president and general counsel of Sony Corporation, informing her of the pending litigation. He said she wrote back in May, saying the matter was referred to another Sony executive and stated "I am certain he will assure that appropriate action is taken."

A secretary in Seligman's office said she is out of the country and can't be reached for comment.

This is the third copyright infringement lawsuit this month that Harris has filed in U.S. District Court in Helena on behalf of Linda O'Neill.

In the first lawsuit, O'Neill claims that artist Jesse Ray of Statesville, N.C., used images that are "strikingly similar" to those created by her husband, including a whitetail buck that was virtually identical to one drawn by her husband, right down to the position of the back hooves and the twist of the head. In that case, she is seeking actual damages of $1 million and wants a jury to decide what she should receive, if anything, in punitive damages.

Less than a week later, Harris filed a second lawsuit in which Linda O'Neill claims that she purchased a jacket in West Yellowstone that had an image of a bugling elk on it, which was "strikingly similar" to one drawn by her husband and copyrighted in 1990. That image is on other clothing and blankets distributed by West Coast Clothing, which was named as a defendant along with John Wenzel and Ron Taylor. O'Neill is again seeking an undetermined amount in punitive damages, as well as $700,000 in actual damages.

Reporter Eve Byron can be reached at 447-4076 or at helenair.com">eve.byron@helenair.com