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Barbie in a Blender Day officially ran between 2003 and 2009. It was a protest movement by college students worldwide under the moniker of Freeculture.org. The purpose of the event was to support free speech rights.
The Barbie in a Blender project was inspired by a legal case involving a lawsuit filed by Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls, against Utah-based artist Tom Forsythe. In 1999 Forsythe created a series of photographs titled “Food Chain Barbie,” portraying nude Barbies in suggestive poses among kitchen appliances. Mattel filed a lawsuit, claiming copyright infringement and demanding Forsythe stop selling prints. On June 30th, 2004, the case was settled. A federal judge ordered Mattel to pay Forsythe $1.8 million in legal fees and court costs, calling Mattel’s suit “frivolous” and “unreasonable.”
The Forsythe case highlights the increasing challenges those who wish to comment on popular icons, symbols, or cornerstones of culture face, given that many are trademarks or copyrights of large corporations. “If you want to talk about the problems with society, all of the widely recognized figures are copyrighted,” says Nelson Pavlosky of Freeculture.org. “In the past, cultural icons belonged to everyone…[now] if you want to use a relevant character to critique society, you’ll get burned by companies who can silence you, not by winning in court, but by outspending you and forcing you to cave in or lose all your money.”
Though no longer a sponsored event, the whimsical nature of the day and the importance of preserving free speech have forced a continued observance of the day by free speech advocates worldwide.
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