T.I. and Tiny Harris have come out on the losing end of their copyright lawsuit against doll maker MGA Entertainment — to the tune of $100million.
According to Law360, the pair, who headed back to federal court earlier this month to battle it out with toymaker after accusing them of using the likeness of their OMG Girlz pop group to create one of the brand’s most popular doll collections, have received their final verdict.
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On Friday (May 26), a California federal jury found — following a 10-day trial and only a few hours of deliberation — that MGA Entertainment’s O.M.G. dolls did not infringe the trade dress or misappropriate the name, likeness or identity of the OMG Girlz pop group co-owned by the Atlanta rapper, marking the end of a heated $100million legal battle that involved accusations of racism and extortion.
“It’s horrible, but whatever,” Tiny told Law360 in response to the ruling. Meanwhile, Tip explained, he’d like to first “hear what the jurors have to say,” before chiming in with his thoughts. Though, he respects their verdict.
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MGA’s Chief Executive Officer Isaac Larian claimed the verdict shows the case was “a shakedown” and he “feels great,” adding that he believes in the jury system. “I’m glad they came back with this verdict so fast.”
In January, Tiny, who formed the OMG Girlz in 2009, called out MGA for allegedly stealing the group’s likeness for its L.O.L Surprise OMG Girls dolls.
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T.I. and Tiny claimed that MGA announced its plan to launch a line of dolls modeled after the OMG Girlz in 2010, but failed to secure a licensing agreement and allegedly refused to discuss compensation. The dolls hit shelves in 2019.
In a statement to Billboard, the toy company said they were disappointed with the mistrial outcome, but that diversity has always remained at the core of their creations.
“Diversity has always been a key value,” MGA said at the time. “We are disappointed that the trial was cut short, but look forward to vindicating our rights in the next trial.”
T.I. and Tiny had attempted to persuade a jury that the line of dolls were examples of both “cultural appropriation and outright theft of the intellectual property,” and that the company attempted to steal the look of a group of “young multicultural women.”
The suit featured side-by-side images that aimed to demonstrate how each doll was based on a particular member of OMG Girlz. However, this argument was blocked by Judge James V. Selna who ruled in one statement that allegations of “cultural appropriation” were “immaterial and impertinent” to the actual legal issues at play in the case and could not be made in front of jurors.
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The initial suit was ultimately declared a mistrial, after the toymaker argued cultural appropriation accusations had ruined the opportunity for a fair trial.
The OMG Girlz quartet ranged from ages 11 to 13, and included Tiny’s daughter Zonnique Pullins, Lil Wayne’s daughter Reginae Carter, and sisters Bahja and Lourdes Rodriguez.
