Party Hearty, Barbie!

Come on, Barbie, let's go party!

A legal battle between the world's largest toy maker and the world's largest music company over the world's most famous doll moved closer to conclusion Wednesday when a federal appeals court in California ruled the 1997 pop hit "Barbie Girl" was a parody protected by the free speech provision of the U.S. Constitution.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed an earlier victory for Universal Music against Mattel Inc., which had claimed that the sleeper hit by the obscure Danish quartet Aqua infringed on its trademark for its iconic Barbie doll and sullied her image with a song laced with sexual innuendo.

"This decision reiterates the power of free speech," Jay Boberg, president of Universal unit MCA Records said in a statement. "For that reason, MCA was committed to defending this litigation to the furthest extent necessary to ensure our artists' freedoms."

A Mattel representative was not immediately available for comment.

While the El Segundo, California toy maker argued that the song could confuse consumers and dilute the power of the Barbie brand, the appeals court held that the song "pokes fun at Barbie and the values Aqua contends she represents," qualifying the dance-pop number for First Amendment protection.

The song features a doll-like female voice celebrating a "Barbie world" -- "life in plastic, it's fantastic." A male singer, who calls, himself Ken, exhorts Barbie during the bridge to "go party."

"With Barbie, Mattel created not just a toy but a cultural icon," Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for the three-judge panel. "With fame often comes unwanted attention."

The toy company had transformed Barbie from a German doll from the 1950s whose first incarnation resembled a "street walker" into "a glamorous, long-legged blonde" and "a symbol of American girlhood, a public figure who graces the aisles of toy stores throughout the country and beyond," Kozinski said.

"Barbie has been labeled both the ideal American woman and a bimbo," he wrote. "She has survived attacks both psychic (from feminists critical of her fictitious figure) and physical (more than 500 professional make-overs)."

Mattel had sued MCA Records, its parent and other units of Universal Music, a subsidiary of French media giant Vivendi Universal, after "Barbie Girl" became an international sleeper hit.

MCA defended the song as a "social commentary," noting the album "Aquarium" that included the song also featured a disclaimer noting that the song was not sanctioned by the maker of Barbie dolls.

The record company then filed a counterclaim for defamation after a Mattel representative was quoted comparing MCA's stance to that of a "bank robber" who hands over a note of apology during a "heist."

That claim was also rejected by the appeals court. "The parties are advised to chill," Judge Kozinski wrote in the judgment affirming the lower court ruling.

By Kevin Krolicki