Barbie Girl

Barbie Girl is a song by the group Aqua, who released it in 1997 as a single and included it on the album Aquarium. The song was written by Karsten Dahlgoard, Claus Norreen and Søren Nystrøm Rasted after the group saw an exhibit on kitsch culture.

Related Topics:
Aqua - 1997 - Aquarium - Søren Nystrøm Rasted - Kitsch

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The lyrics of the song are about Barbie and Ken Carson, the dolls made by Mattel. As such, the lyrics drew the ire of Barbie's corporate owners.

Related Topics:
Barbie - Ken Carson - Doll - Mattel

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Mattel sued the band, saying they violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a "Blonde Bimbo." They alleged the song had violated their copyrights and trademarks of Barbie, and that its lyrics had tarnished the reputation of their trademark and impinged on their marketing plan. Aqua claimed that Mattel injected their own meanings into the song's lyrics and MCA Records were not about to let their hit single be suppressed without a fight. They contested Mattel's claims and countersued for defamation.

Related Topics:
Blonde - Bimbo - Copyright - Trademark - MCA

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The lawsuit filed by Mattel against MCA was dismissed by the lower courts, and this dismissal was upheld though Mattel took their case up to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2002, a Judge Alex Kozinski ruled the song was protected as free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and also threw out the defamation lawsuit Aqua's record company filed against Mattel. Kozinski concluded his ruling by saying "The parties are advised to chill." The case was dismissed, and in the process, it garnered loads of media attention for the song and the band.

Related Topics:
Supreme Court of the United States - 2002 - Alex Kozinski - Free speech - First Amendment to the United States Constitution

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This controversy was used by journalist Naomi Klein to make a political point in her book No Logo, where she stated that the monopolies created by copyrights and trademarks are unfairly and differently enforced based on the legal budgets of the conflicting parties and their ability to defend their expressions by hiring lawyers.

Related Topics:
Naomi Klein - No Logo - Monopolies - Lawyer

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