Judge Reduces T.I. and Tiny's OMG Girlz Lawsuit Award from $71.4M to $17M in MGA Case
A federal judge is considering reducing T.I. and Tiny Harris' lawsuit payout against MGA Entertainment from $71.4 million to $17 million over the LOL Surprise! OMG dolls copyright dispute.
Federal judge ruling on OMG lawsuit
The original verdict awarded $17.8 million in real damages and $53.6 million in punitive damages after the court found that seven dolls from the LOL Surprise! OMG line copied the likeness of the OMG Girlz girl group. However, Judge James Selna stated there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove MGA Entertainment acted in bad faith to justify the punitive damages.
The lawsuit, filed by T.I. and Tameka "Tiny" Harris, claimed MGA Entertainment violated their intellectual property rights by copying the appearance of their daughter Star's girl group, OMG Girlz. Both Star and her bandmates testified during the hearing.
T.I. told Rolling Stone that MGA Entertainment "came and ripped us off, and expected us to not have the audacity to stand up and speak for ourselves." While the couple accused the toymaker of bullying during the legal dispute, MGA denied both the bullying allegations and copyright infringement claims, referring to the couple as "extortionists."
TI, Tiny Harris and OMG Girlz
Judge Selna has not made a final decision on the reduction, stating, "There's a lot to contemplate. I want to put this down for a couple days, and I want to come back to it fresh from the top."
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