Barbie jibe allowed

A US appeal court has thrown out a copyright lawsuit brought by toy giant Mattel against an artist who shot a photographic series depicting Barbie dolls naked in a blender, wrapped in a tortilla and sizzling on a wok.

Mattel sued Tom Forsythe, a self-described “artsurdist” from Kanab, Utah, who used the fashion dolls in a work entitled “Food Chain Barbie” to criticise “America’s culture of consumption and conformism”.

Mattel said the pictures could confuse consumers into believing the company was behind the works, but the appeal court in San Francisco agreed with an earlier Los Angeles court decision to dismiss the case.

The court added that Forsythe had a First Amendment right to lampoon Barbie.