You Don't Own Me: The Court Battles That Exposed Barbie's Dark Side

You Don't Own Me: The Court Battles That Exposed Barbie's Dark Side

Orly Lobel
$17.95
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2019
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN:
9780393356717
Pages:
304

Description

“A hair-raising account of a Barbie Dreamhouse-size Jarndyce and Jarndyce.”—Jill Lepore, The New Yorker

This provocative work spotlights the legal battles between behemoth Mattel and audacious MGA over incredibly successful toys and the ownership of an idea. Law professor Orly Lobel deeply researched this riveting story, interviewing those involved, to draw attention to the contentious debate over creativity and intellectual property. She also explores female images and how we market cultural icons, from the doll that inspired all-American Barbie to the defiant, anti-establishment Bratz—the only doll to outsell Barbie in any year.

About the Author

Orly Lobel is the Don Weckstein Professor of Law at the University of San Diego and received her doctoral and law degrees from Harvard University. When a child, she starred in her psychologist mother’s studies on playing with Barbies. The award-winning author of Talent Wants to Be Free, she lives in La Jolla, California.

Praise for You Don't Own Me: The Court Battles That Exposed Barbie's Dark Side

A thrilling tale of dueling toymakers, corporate espionage and a group of brats taking on the queen of the Dreamhouse.
— Lee Rawles - American Bar Association Journal

In the hands of Lobel… this case study in who should benefit from an employee’s creativity becomes something of a page-turner.
— Emma Jacobs - Financial Times

The Barbie vs Bratz case tells a compelling story and is an effective vehicle for Lobel’s call for creative freedom.
— Rebecca Asher - Times Literary Supplement

This book is a courtroom drama, a corporate exposé, and a case study of cutthroat creativity. Orly Lobel deftly explains why ownership of ideas should belong to people, not companies.
— Adam Grant, New York Times best-selling author of Originals

Captivating.… Holds up a lipstick-pink mirror to both American consumer culture and corporate misbehaviour.
— Laura Frost - Times Higher Education

A thrill ride through backstabbing competition, business strategies, and the marketing of the American icon Barbie. Who knew intellectual property law could be such a page turner? An amazing story and a great read.
— Jonah Berger, best-selling author of Contagious and Invisible Influence

Intellectual-property law made vivid, via an engaging narrative about the litigation surrounding, of all ‘people,’ Barbie.
— Harvard Magazine

A powerful, engrossing survey of business and social issues.
— Diane Donovan - Midwest Book Review

Fascinating.… Lobel pens a gripping tale of corporate malevolence, courtroom betrayal, and copyright hijinks… [and] tells the tale with verve and aplomb.
— Michael M. Rosen - Claremont Review of Books

A fascinating, insightful, and accessible book with relevance for entrepreneurship and business in general, for copyright law and the legal profession as a whole, for individual success and the success of our economy. It is both pleasure reading and mandatory reading.
— Tal Ben-Shahar, bets-selling author of Happier