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

Orly Lobel’s book “You Don’t Own Me” is absolutely fascinating! It describes in details the battle between Mattel (“Barbie” creators) and MGA (“Bratz dolls” creators) over the ownership on Bratz creation. Not only are the legal aspects of this story conveyed in an engaging and insightful way, but also the entire story is told in such a way that you just don’t want to put this book down!!! I was pleasantly surprised by the joy I found in reading this book, as I have no background in law or legal affairs whatsoever. I purely enjoyed it as if I were reading a wonderful fiction book… yet, it is very clear (when you read the book) that it is based on thorough research and deep knowledge and understanding of this battle, on its many facets. All people mentioned in this book are described in a comprehensive and multidimensional way. On top of this, many interesting info nuggets are intertwined into the main story. You just get to learn so much – in such a fun way!!! I plan to buy this book for friends as a New Year’s gift!

You Don't Own Me is character-driven page-turning nonfiction in the tradition of The Big Short or A Civil Action. It's the epic courtroom battle of Barbie versus Bratz -- America's longest-reigning childhood cultural icon versus the toy industry's clearest-ever personification of anti-establishment rebellion. Happily author Orly Lobel, having taken on the responsibility of writing this one of up for the ages, does the job exquisitely. A surprise is that this is as much a business book as a law one. But while most business books are about a brilliant insight that gave one company an edge in the marketplace to beat the competition, Lobel's is the story of a business using lawyers and litigation to try to reshape the marketplace itself, so that beating the competition becomes a fait accompli. She illustrates this powerfully with her portrait of Mattel, a corporate behemoth that unabashedly works both sides of the intellectual property game: One moment it's a brazen shoulder-shrugging copyist, the next it's playing the victim in a fiery fit of pique. But this isn't the story of what Mattel got away with. Rather, it's the story of how the world's most famous doll company sowed the seeds of its own downfall by fetishizing intellectual property and forgetting how to compete. Mattel obsessed about owning not just employees' time, but their minds as well. And in the process, Mattel stifled the creativity within its walls, leaving itself incapable of producing the next big thing. Stuck, the company turned to lawyers, spinning out legal threats and baroque lawsuits in an ultimately miserable attempt to keep its marketshare from slipping away. If this all sounds like a drama, that's exactly how it reads. And like The Big Short and A Civil Action, You Don't Own Me would translate naturally to the big screen. The real-life personalities could have been drawn by a novelist, and there's moxie, guile, spite, and irony to spare. But a screenplay couldn't capture all the rich lessons this book has for artists, designers, lawyers, managers, and toy enthusiasts -- plus anyone who cares about holding off the relentless march of the mundane at the toy box's edge.

This book is a solid read for those with a particular interest in Mattel, MGA or the legal issues pertaining to intellectual property. Otherwise, I’m not sure about its appeal to a general audience. As a long-time investor in Hasbro, I was particularly interested in learning more about one of Hasbro’s major competitors and in that context I found this book to be informative and comprehensive. One critical observation is that the author, Orly Lobel, has a tendency to periodically interject herself into the story, where she had no direct involvement in the events. We are told early on that she is the daughter of a “renowned psychology professor” who videotaped Orly as a child to examine gender roles among children at play, and this leaves the reader wondering which portions of the book are journalistic and which are editorial. Lobel also gets off-topic a bit on some of the legal issues, reflecting her background as a law professor, but these sections are easily identifiable and can be skimmed without any loss of continuity. All in all, the book appears well-researched and is certainly readable. With a bit more critical editing, it could have easily earned a five-star rating.

Having worked at Mattel as a Barbie brand manager during the Bratz bloodbath, Lobel’s book gave me chills. It’s fascinating, beautifully written, and jives with my personal experience. Many revelations were new to me as well—like that someone I considered a friend was running a spy ring. What?!! Lobel does a masterful job of character and story development while framing the issues in their historical legal context of Corporations vs Creativity. Ultimately, there are no winners. Except, perhaps, the readers who will be educated and entertained.

MGA deserves lots of credit for the great job they did. However, in my opinion, this book is terribly one sided and biased. But very interesting and worth a read.

I've spent a lot of my career in the toy business and know pretty much everyone in this book. The author has absolutely encapsulated them as people and has provided one of the best descriptions of the industry that I've ever seen written down. I am also a lawyer and a law professor and can tell you that she has accurately represented the legal aspects of this situation. I recommend this book both to my students and to you, without hesitation.

Granddaughter loved it.

Brilliant book about a fantastic subject matter. An iconic David and Goliath tustle and all over Barbie!