TORONTO -- Susanne Pitt makes the kind of Barbies few Canadians would buy, but at least now they're legal.

Ms. Pitt has been locked in a legal battle with Mattel Inc., makers of the real Barbie, over a line of Barbie Dungeon Dolls she sells from her home in Gateshead, England.

Ms. Pitt uses the heads of SuperStar Barbies to create dolls that depict activities Mattel's Barbie would never dream of. One of Ms. Pitt's Barbies features "lederhosen-style Bavarian-bondage dress and helmet in rubber with a PVC mask and waspie." It sells for $186 (U.S.).

Mattel sued in a New York court and argued that Dungeon Barbies violate the company's trademark. It demanded damages and an immediate halt to Ms. Pitt's creations.

Ms. Pitt argued that her dolls were a form of artistic expression and she was simply commenting on the sexual overtones of Mattel's Barbies. She added that she "is simply revealing this sexual nature by placing Barbie in a modern erotic context."

"Sex is inherent in the doll," she told the court. "Given that other artists modify Mattel dolls, we felt that Mattel is acting merely as public censor."

Judge Laura Taylor Swain agreed and denied Mattel's request for an injunction. Ms. Pitt would have violated Mattel's copyright if the company had a similar "S&M Barbie," the judge ruled.

Ms. Pitt's "touch-ups" of the dolls plus the setting she creates for them, transform, to put it mildly, the original doll to an extent beyond merely "supplanting it," Judge Swain wrote in a ruling released this week.

"A different analysis would apply if [Ms. Pitt] had, for example, dressed Barbie dolls in a different style of cheerleader outfit than those marketed by Mattel. To the Court's knowledge, there is no Mattel line of 'S&M' Barbie."

The judge added that "the dolls do not appear to pose any danger of usurping demand for Barbie dolls in the children's toy market. The sale or display of 'adult' dolls does not appear to be a use Mattel would likely develop or licence others to develop," the judge ruled. "It appears that there is slim to no likelihood that Dungeon Dolls would serve as a market substitute for Barbie dolls."

She added that the question of whether the Dungeon Barbies are in good taste is irrelevant.

"We obviously don't agree with the ruling," said AnnMarie Croswell, a New York lawyer representing Mattel. Ms. Croswell said the firm will continue to press the case in court.

Ms. Pitt was unavailable for comment. But the ruling may have come too late for her. She shut down a Web site featuring her dolls last year after Mattel launched its suit.

The site featured pictures of Dungeon Barbies and a host of other modified Barbies.