Tom Forsythe

Tom Forsythe is an American artist and tai chi instructor who lives and works in Utah. He is known for his photographic work of Barbie dolls, which caused some controversy resulting from a lawsuit brought against him by Mattel. The company lost the case, Mattel Inc. v. Walking Mountain Prods. (9th Cir. 2003), when the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the images were original artwork in 2004.

Career Art Forsythe is best known for his famous "Barbie" portraits, portraying Barbie dolls in surprising situations usually without clothes and often juxtaposed with some sort of kitchen or cooking appliance. This line of art is called the "Food Chain Barbie". In each composition, Forsythe shows the world as seemingly mad. His work has been described as "unappetizing".

The main reason behind Forsythe's use of the Barbie is that the doll is seen as an American icon. When Barbie came out, the doll was supposed to represent beauty and (according to Forsythe) gave a false idea of how women were supposed to look and act. The 9th Circuit Court ruled that Forsythe's art did not violate the fair use doctrine, which allows limited, unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as criticism or commentary. Accordingly, the court ruled in Forsythe's favor that the Copyright Act applied in the case of his work.

Reactions

Many artists and feminists were glad to hear that Forsythe had won the case. To them, the case made a statement that copyright is "destructive to the free exchange of ideas". To Forsythe, the case was a victory in the fight for free speech. He felt that he was using a form of art to show how political and social ideals play in our world today.

Forsythe felt that the case taught him a lesson about the US legal system, saying: