Five years after its release, California federal appeals court declined to reinstate a lawsuit from toy makers Mattel yesterday that alleged the Aqua pop song ‘Barbie Girl’ infringed on the toymaker's doll patent. Mattel sued MCA Records in the US, and others who helped produce and market the song, because of the line, "I'm a blonde bimbo girl in a fantasy world." The maker of the doll claimed the song “violated Mattel's copyright and that it confused consumers into thinking Mattel backed the song”. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court that threw out the defamation suite and the trademark suite. Whether this means we can officially call Barbie a bimbo is not clear. Aqua probably don’t care though, they split up last year.
Jul 26, 2002
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1 min read
Barbie Girl not libel
A US appeals court has declined to reinstate Mattel's lawsuit against the makers of Aqua's 'Barbie Girl', upholding a lower court's dismissal of the defamation and trademark claims.