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For a lot of, it’s unattainable to consider Barbie — or the upcoming Barbie film — with out additionally eager about the hit music “Barbie Woman.” The only, launched by Danish-Norwegian band Aqua in 1997, rapidly grew to become a worldwide success — being described as each a masterpiece and essentially the most annoying tune ever made.
What’s much less well-known is that Barbie maker Mattel tried to sue the band over the music — even trying to take the case to the Supreme Courtroom — and that the case ended up contributing to what authorized specialists name an vital precedent associated to free speech.
Within the late Nineties, “I’m a Barbie lady, in a Barbie world, life in plastic, it’s implausible,” had been a number of the lyrics lodged contained in the minds of tens of millions of listeners who had been sucked into the sheer quirkiness of the music, with its high-pitched vocals and tongue-in-cheek rhymes. Its manifestly pink music video was additionally common and has, up to now, been considered greater than 1 billion occasions on YouTube.
The music, which describes Barbie as a “blond bimbo lady in a fantasy world,” could have given Mattel free international promoting, however the toy large was not amused. Inside six months of the music’s launch, Mattel launched a lawsuit in opposition to Aqua’s label, MCA Data — a dispute that may find yourself lasting years.
Mattel claimed that lyrics corresponding to, “Kiss me right here, contact me there, hanky-panky,” had been damaging to Barbie’s status, and it accused the music group of trademark infringement, unfair competitors and trademark dilution. Amongst its arguments was that, by way of its shiny music video, Aqua infringed on the colour “Barbie pink” and mimicked the doll’s equipment, together with the pink Barbie Dreamhouse.
The band’s label defended the only as “only a enjoyable, humorous pop music” and mentioned that each one copies of the hit got here with a disclaimer contained in the accompanying CD and cassette tape booklet that knowledgeable listeners the hit “was not created or accredited by the makers of the doll.”
After years of authorized tennis, the case finally made it to the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the ninth Circuit, the place Choose Alex Kozinski wrote in his authorized opinion, “If this had been a sci-fi melodrama, it is perhaps known as Speech-Zilla meets Trademark Kong.”
On a extra severe word, Kozinski dominated in favor of MCA, noting that the music was parody and due to this fact protected by the First Modification. However he concluded his opinion with the memorable line, “The events are suggested to relax.”
The courtroom doc itself ends, amusingly, with an appendix displaying the lyrics of “Barbie Woman,” with traces corresponding to, “Come on, Barbie, let’s go occasion, ah ah ah, yeah,” and “Oh, I like you, Ken!”
The dismissal was upheld on attraction, and makes an attempt by Mattel to get the lawsuit heard by the Supreme Courtroom had been unsuccessful.
Within the years because the lawsuit, members of the European band have spoken of their shock at being sued by Mattel. “The very first thing I believed was, ‘Wow, the most important toy firm on the planet goes after the little band from Denmark?’” Rene Dif, one of many group’s vocalists, instructed Rolling Stone in 2022.
In the meantime, lead vocalist Lene Nystrom instructed the journal that she thought the lawsuit was “hilarious,” including, “Solely in America.” Different members of the band mentioned the case fueled publicity for each events.
MCA’s protection was additionally helped by the truth that Barbie was initially impressed by a German intercourse toy known as Lilli — serving to the file label’s attorneys defend in opposition to claims that Aqua had sexualized the doll.
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Whereas the lawsuit — and the decide’s feedback — left many individuals amused, it was additionally an vital case from a trademark perspective, Rebecca Tushnet, a professor of regulation at Harvard, mentioned in an interview.
At one level, Mattel was “very aggressive in suing parodists and different unauthorized customers” of the Barbie model, Tushnet mentioned. Its lawsuits included one made in opposition to a British artist who modified Barbie right into a bondage doll, and one other in opposition to an American artist who produced a collection of photos titled “Meals Chain Barbie,” displaying the dolls positioned inside blenders or skewered over a fondue pot.
“Mattel misplaced all these circumstances and received the message,” Tushnet mentioned. “These had been vital precedents defending commentary at a time when the web was simply permitting folks to succeed in bigger audiences with out conventional gatekeepers. Then the ‘Barbie Woman’ case confirmed that conventional, business media additionally had the liberty to parody and touch upon well-known logos.”
Mattel’s argument that folks might be confused about whether or not the corporate had backed Aqua’s hit music additionally had “nothing to do with the core of trademark regulation, which is to permit folks to know from whom they’re shopping for,” Tushnet mentioned.
“Everybody knew that the music got here from Aqua,” she mentioned. “Confusion about whether or not there was some type of permission — or, even worse and extra seemingly, whether or not the regulation mandated that Aqua get permission from Mattel to speak about Barbie — isn’t dangerous in something like the identical approach. Trademark house owners don’t want and shouldn’t have the correct to manage how they’re talked about.”
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Mattel didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the “Barbie Woman” music and subsequent lawsuit.
The corporate finally embraced the hit single, utilizing its melody in a 2009 commercial — however with extra family-friendly lyrics.
And if there’s any doubt over the longevity of the “Barbie Woman” music, or the truth that Mattel has come round, look no additional than the upcoming film “Barbie,” the place a brand new model of the music — “Barbie World,” that includes Aqua, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice — is featured on the soundtrack. So evidently “Barbie Woman” could wind up amusing — or annoying — yet one more technology.