In the song which became Aqua's biggest success, singer Lene
Nystroem portrayed Barbie and was enticed to "go party" by a male
singer representing Ken, Barbie's plastic boyfriend. The lyrics
include the lines:
I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
I'm a blonde single girl in the fantasy world
Dress me up, take your time, I'm your dollie
You're my doll, rock and roll, feel the glamour and pain
Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky
Mattel sued MCA claiming that the song, which sold an estimated
1.4 million copies in the US, was infringing on its trade mark by
confusing consumers and diluting the value of the Barbie brand.
MCA, Mattel argued in its suit, ran television ads for the song
during morning and after-school children's shows.
According to Mattel, the advertising materials used the same
bright pink colour that it uses to package Barbie dolls, and MCA
made promotional videos with scenes resembling Barbie products.
These practices, the toy maker claimed, confused pre-teen girls,
the target market for Barbie dolls, to believe that the song was an
advertisement for the doll or part of Mattel's official line of
products.
Mattel also claimed it received e-mails from young girls
believing that Barbie was performing the song, and asking for
copies.
MCA's defence was that the song was a "social commentary," and
therefore protected by constitutional provisions for free speech.
Also, the label pointed out that the album included a disclaimer
stating that the song was not associated with Mattel.
In 2002, a US appeals court in San Francisco dismissed Mattel's
lawsuit. The court accepted that MCA used Barbie's name to sell
records.
It found, however, that the song also commented "humorously on
the cultural values Aqua claims [Barbie] represents." This
expression is, the court ruled, protected by the First Amendment
rights to free speech.
No one hearing the song could be misled into believing that it
was related to Mattel, the appeals judge said.
"Nor, upon hearing Janis Joplin croon, 'Oh Lord, wont' you buy
me a Mercedes-Benz,' would we suspect that she and the carmaker had
entered into a joint venture", said the court in its decision, San
Francisco Chronicle's SFGate.com reports.
The toy maker appealed the ruling. On Monday, however, the US
Supreme Court denied without comment Mattel's request to re-examine
the case.
Mattel's lawyer reportedly said that the court did not consider
the facts of the case, and that therefore the ruling should not
affect the company's efforts "to protect its valuable intellectual
property."
