had been using the image of their product, and they sued Forsythe in 1999 for copyright and trademark infringement. After several years of appeals, a federal judge instructed Mattel to pay Forsythe's legal fees of more than $1.8 million. 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: External links Tai Chi Class website Tom Forsythe's artwork website Little Hollywood Museum website References Artists from Utah Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Barbie Toy controversies