A jury in California awarded music couple T.I. and Tameka “Tiny” Harris $71 million after they filed a lawsuit against MGA Entertainment over claims the toy company infringed the intellectual property rights of OMG Girlz – the teen pop girl group that the plaintiffs founded.
Per Rolling Stone, the plaintiffs won their third court trial over allegations that MGA Entertainment’s “L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G.” line of dolls mimicked how the group dressed for some of their previous public appearances. The couple was ultimately awarded $17.9 million in real damages and $53.6 million in punitive damages.
“I mean, wow. They did more than I thought they would,” Tiny, who is a member of the award-winning girl group, Xscape, told the news outlet after the Monday verdict. “I would have been happy with whatever. They blessed us more than beyond. We wanted to thank the jurors so bad, but we didn’t get the opportunity.”
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The couple filed the lawsuit alleging that 30 dolls that the toy company rolled out infringed the intellectual property rights of OMG Girlz. The jury agreed that 13 of the dolls MGA Entertainment released violated the trade dress and misappropriated the name, image, and likeness of OMG Girlz. The jury also agreed that a 14th doll the company released infringed the group’s trade dress and also concluded that a 15th doll misappropriated the name, image, and likeness of OMG Girlz.
“I think justice was served. I think it’s a testament to the relentlessness and resilience of my wife, daughter and nieces,” T.I. also said. “We’re just happy we were able to come out on top and fight for creatives and our intellectual property that large corporations seem to think is just public domain and free for all to come and grab and use.”
The Bring Em Out rapper also said the decision by the jury signaled a victory for “the people who actually put hard work and effort into building and creating things from nothing.”
But MGA’s lawyer during the trial argued that the lawsuit filed by the power couple was a “money grab.” T.I., however, claimed that was not the case. “I think that was a bully tactic, trying to paint me as the bad guy when really, they were the [bad] ones,” the 43-year-old veteran rapper said.
“They were the ones that came and ripped us off, and [they] expected us to not have the audacity to stand up and speak for ourselves. … That kind of condescension comes from when you’re not really in touch with the reality of culture after you’ve gone so long kind of having it your way and nobody really standing up and speaking up against you.”
“At the end of the day, the evidence showed [MGA] stole from us. They stole from our creation,” Tiny added. “I’m glad we stuck with it. No one could tell me they did not steal from us.”
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