Judge Agrees to Put Lid on Garbage Pail Kids

A federal judge agreed Friday to halt production of Garbage Pail Kids stickers while he considers whether they violate the copyright for the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.

Although U.S. District Judge G. Ernest Tidwell’s ruling is not a final decision and will not take effect until Cabbage Patch originator Original Appalachian Artworks posts a bond, a lawyer for the Cleveland, Ga., doll maker said that “it’s a complete victory.”

“It’s a very strongly worded opinion with a lot of indication of willful (copyright) infringement,” lawyer William Needle said.

Like Cabbage Patch Kids, Garbage Pail Kids have chubby faces and yarn-like hair. Unlike the dolls--which are “adopted” when bought--the characters on the stickers engage in outrageous behavior and have names such as “Acne Amy” and “Dead Fred.”

Trading the stickers, sold with bubble gum, has been so popular among children that they have been banned in some schools.

The stickers are made by Topps Chewing Gum. Norman Liss, a spokesman at the company’s New York City headquarters, said that “the company’s position is that it is confident it will win when the case is tried.”

Appalachian’s lawsuit claimed that the Garbage Pail Kids tarnished the image of the dolls, making them less desirable.

Topps said their stickers were satirical products permitted by the “fair use” exception in copyright law.

“It is a fine line between parody and piracy,” Tidwell’s ruling said. “The primary purpose behind the defendant’s parody is not an effort to make a social comment but is an attempt to make money.”