Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc.

litigants	Mattel v. MCA Records
court	United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
courtseal	Seal of the United States Courts, Ninth Judicial Circuit.svg
arguedate	December 5,
argueyear	2000
decidedate	July 24,
decideyear	2002
fullname	Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc.
citations	296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002)
prior	Appeal from C.D. Cal. (28 F.Supp.2d 1120)
subsequent	Request for certiorari, S.Ct.; denied (537 U.S. 1171).
holding	Barbie Girl is protected as a parody under the trademark doctrine of nominative use and under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
judges	Dorothy Nelson, Melvin Brunetti, Alex Kozinski
majority	Kozinski
joinmajority	unanimous court
lawsapplied	U.S. Const. amend I; Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq)

Mattel v. MCA Records, 296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002),[1] was a series of lawsuits between Mattel and MCA Records that resulted from the 1997 hit single "Barbie Girl" by Danish-Norwegian group Aqua.[2] The case was ultimately dismissed.

Background

On September 11, 1997, Mattel filed suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, bringing 11 claims against MCA (Aqua's American record label) and others.[3] Mattel claimed the song violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a "Blonde Bimbo."[4]

Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc.

Background

Response

See also

External links

References