Aqua wrote a song entitled "Barbie Girl" in 1997. It was an amusing parody of most everything Barbie stood for (and something that the co-founder of eMusic played all the time in the office.) Mattel promptly sued Universal Music. Judge Alex Kozinski quipped in the opinion, "If this were a sci-fi melodrama, it might be called Speech- Zilla meets Trademark Kong." In his holding he summed up the battle (which Mattel lost) as, "The parties are advised to chill."

What might this have to do with toddlers? Our youngest has started to enjoy Sponge Bob. During the commercials I just heard Mattel using "Barbie Girl" to advertise... Barbie. Aqua and Universal are getting paid by Mattel...

Truth is stranger than fiction.