Mattel Sues Aqua Over "Barbie Girl"

Mattel Inc. has filed suit against MCA Records Inc. and Universal Music & Video Distribution Inc. for trademark infringement and dilution resulting from the alleged unauthorized use of the toy manufacturer's Barbie doll trademarks and likeness in the hit song "Barbie Girl" by Danish pop group Aqua. Filed Thursday, the suit, which also names MCA's British, Danish, and Swedish affiliates, claims that the song, which is currently No. 9 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart, contains lyrics that "associate sexual and other unsavory themes with Mattel's Barbie products." Among the lyric examples cited are "kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky" and "make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please, I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees." The suit seeks an injunction forcing the defendants to stop their alleged infringement of the Barbie doll trademarks, the recall and destruction of all infringing products, and unspecified damages. In a prepared statement, MCA responds: "In our view, Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' is just a fun, funny pop song and every copy is clearly marked with a disclaimer that reads: The song 'Barbie Girl' is a social comment and was not created or approved by the makers of the doll."

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Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

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