"Every Barbie for Herself"
by Tom Forsythe
Mattel isn't a big fan of free speech-- at least not when it applies to their products. So when Utah artist Tom Forsythe took this photograph of Barbie in a blender as part of a series of critical fine-art Barbie photos, Mattel got pissed. So what did they do to try stop Tom's message? They decided to sue his ass. Usually, a guy like this would have no chance going up against a fleet of corporate lawyers; and from the corporation's perspective, that's the whole point. Every day companies threaten to sue people who do things with their products that they don't like. And even though there is free speech and fair use protection in the US Constitution, there is simply no way that most people can afford to hire lawyers to defend themselves. This means that corporations can use lawsuits to shut down free speech even when they know that they would lose the case if it ever went to court.
Luckily for Tom, he convinced some lawyers from the ACLU to step up to and fight his case, and after a long legal battle he was victorious. The judge in the case ruled that the lawsuit clearly ran counter to the first amendment, calling Mattel's suit "groundless and unreasonable." Not only that, but the Judge's order forces Mattel to pay Tom's $1.8 million in legal fees. National Barbie-in-a-Blender Day, July 27, is a celebration of this important defense of free speech. And of course, the best way to celebrate free speech is to excercise it, and there's no reason at all why Barbie Art should be limited to fancy art galleries. Let's make our own! Send your submissions by July 27 to blended@barbieinablender.org. The 10 coolest submissions will WIN A GMAIL ACCOUNT! Oooooh, this is going to be good.
Well, that depends what you're getting at. If you're wondering whether you can send in a photo of Ken in a blender, the answer is yes. We may even make a special Boys Clubhouse section if we get enough Ken submissions. If you're just concerned that Ken will be lonely after Barbie's been blended, you should consider having him follow Barbie in her trip to the hereafter.
That's really up to you. Rumor has it that a co-branding agreement between Mattel and Heinz has given Barbie blood made out of ketchup. Others argue that Barbie's blood absolutely, positively must flow pink. And conspiracy theorists and anatomy experts have even suggested that Barbie's unknown and likely alien origins imply a green or perhaps fluorescent blood stream. But nearly everyone agrees that when things get bloody in the blender, they get very bloody.
We have no idea-- Barbie blending is a new art form and we're all forging this path together. You'll just have to ask yourself what's more important to you: freedom of speech and expression or a summer of smoothly blended fruit beverages. There's clearly arguments to be made on both sides, but we believe that the opportunity to blend Barbie far outweighs the risks.
(Update: Yes, actually trying to blend your Barbie WILL damage your blender — one adventurer has tested this in the field. Of course, we could always use some independent confirmation of his experimental results...)
That's not really a question, but we take your point. We too can appreciate the zen of an evenly segmented Barbie. Do what you will, our gallery goes up on July 27th.
Non-Sarcastic Information About Barbie and Copyright
"No one would grant permission to be ridiculed. Yet parody is an important part of our culture. Without criticism and comment, even ridicule, democracy cannot operate optimally."
Siva Vaidhyanathan, Copyrights and Copywrongs
"If this were a sci-fi melodrama it might be called Speech-Zilla meets Trademark Kong"
From Judge Kozinski's opinion when Mattel sued MCA Records for Aqua's "Barbie Girl" song.
"Creativity and innovation always builds on the past. The past always tries to control the creativity that builds upon it. Free societies enable the future by limiting this power of the past. Ours is less and less a free society"
Lawrence Lessig, from this flash presentation of his speech at the Open Source Convention 2002.
Here's a nice flash animation from the perspective of an artist about the ways that copyright restricts innovation.
Care About Free Speech and Fair Use?
Then Join the Fight!
- FreeCulture.org created Barbie-in-a-Blender Day, and we'd love to have you join our fight for Free Speech, Free Software, and Free Culture. We're working to build an international student movement to advance these goals.
- Illegal Art is an online and offline exhibit of artwork that has been sued: "art and ideas on the legal fringes of intellectual property".
- Downhill Battle - music activism is working to make a better music industry and defend the rights of sample-based musicians.
- Copyfight is a wonderful blog for copyright news and information. But remember, it's not just what you know, it's what you do.
- Movies for Music is a contest for Creative Commons videos and animations about the music industry.
More Information About the Barbie Case
- Barbie's Manufacturer is Ordered to Pay $1.8 Million in Legal Fees to Artist by Bill Werde in the New York Times
- The Creative Freedom Defense Fund created by friends of Tom Forsythe.
- The Judge's opinion and order in PDF form from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
- Mattel's links of shame.
- Barbie Liberation Organization
