Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc.

Mattel v. MCA Records
CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Full case name Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc.
ArguedDecember 5, 2000
DecidedJuly 24, 2002
Citation296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002)
Case history
Prior historyAppeal from C.D. Cal. (28 F.Supp.2d 1120)
Subsequent historyRequest 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.
Court membership
Judges sittingDorothy Nelson, Melvin Brunetti, Alex Kozinski
Case opinions
MajorityKozinski, joined by unanimous court
Laws applied
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.

  1. ^ "Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 296 F.3d 894 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  2. ^ AquaVEVO (August 20, 2010). "Aqua - Barbie Girl". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2017.