T.I. and Tiny win yearslong legal battle against MGA Entertainment over the intellectual property rights of the OMG Girlz.
This week, T.I. and Tiny are celebrating a win against toy manufacturer MGA Entertainment.
On Sept. 23, a jury in Orange County, California, ruled in favor of the couple’s claim of intellectual property violation, awarding the couple $71 million.
The lawsuit was filed against the manufacturer for their collection of “OMG” dolls, which T.I. and Tiny claim stole the image and likeness of members from the OMG Girlz, a musical group they created over a decade ago, which included their daughter Zonnique.
“It was a fight. It was a hell of a fight,” Tiny said on Instagram Live following the verdict, per People magazine. “We couldn’t be more happy…We wanted to thank the jurors for just seeing us through this, and just believing in what we said. They heard our story and they knew we wasn’t lying. It’s amazing.”
On the livestream, the Xscape singer also revealed that their legal battle against MGA Entertainment has been going on since 2020. Ultimately, as Tiny showcased in previous Instagram posts, the jury found similarities between the OMG Girlz and half of the companies’ “OMG” doll collection. Determining that 15 of the 30 dolls infringed on the group’s trade dress and misappropriated their name, image and likeness, the lawsuit ended with the couple receiving $17.9 million in real damages and $53.6 million in punitive damages.
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“I think justice was served. I think it’s a testament to the relentlessness and resilience of my wife, daughter and nieces,’ T.I. told Rolling Stone. “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.”
During the three-week trial, Bahja Rodriguez, Breaunna Womack and Zonnique Pullins, members of the girl group, testified in court. T.I. claims that the toy manufacturer’s lawyer referred to the lawsuit as a “money grab” as they denied the allegations. Additionally, People magazine reports that MGA Entertainment founder, Isaac Larian, called the couple and girl group “extortionists.”
“I think that was a bully tactic, trying to paint me as the bad guy when really, they were the [bad] ones,” the rapper added. “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.”
“We did this for the city,” Tiny said regarding the lawsuit. “We did this for the culture.”
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