By Stacy BrownNNPA Newswire
Rapper T.I. and singer Tameka “Tiny” Harris have emerged victorious in a serious lawsuit in opposition to toy firm MGA Leisure, securing a $71 million judgment. The couple, alongside their music group OMG Girlz, accused MGA of violating their mental property rights by copying the group’s picture and elegance for the corporate’s in style L.O.L. Shock! O.M.G. dolls.
Picture: AP Picture/ Rob Latour
The case, which spanned over three years, concluded when a jury dominated in favor of the Harris household. Based on Individuals journal, Tiny, 49, was elated as she shared her ideas in an Instagram Dwell video outdoors the Santa Ana, California federal courthouse.
Reflecting on the years-long authorized battle, she stated, “It was a hell of a battle. We couldn’t be extra completely happy.”
Tiny expressed profound gratitude to the jurors, who delivered a unanimous verdict. “They heard our story they usually knew we wasn’t mendacity. It’s superb,” she stated.
The lawsuit, initiated in 2020, centered on greater than a dozen L.O.L. Shock! O.M.G. dolls that strongly resemble the OMG Girlz, a gaggle Tiny shaped in 2009 along with her daughter, Zonnique Pullins, together with Bahja Rodriguez and Breaunna Womack. Based on the court docket, MGA had “infringed on the commerce costume and misappropriated the identify, picture and likeness” of the group, significantly their outfits and hairstyles.
Individuals journal famous that the jury awarded $53.6 million in punitive damages along with the preliminary settlement, an end result that stunned even Tiny.
“I imply, wow. They did greater than I assumed they might,” she advised Rolling Stone after the decision. “I’d have been proud of no matter. They blessed us greater than past.”
The OMG Girlz themselves testified through the three-week trial, recalling particular public occasions and photographs the place the dolls copied their distinctive wardrobe and elegance.
Womack shared her emotional response, telling Rolling Stone, “I’m so grateful and overwhelmed with pleasure.”
Pullins added that when the jurors unanimously acknowledged the group’s memorable fashion, “All of us silently cried.”
T.I. additionally mirrored on the case, criticizing MGA for making an attempt to dismiss the lawsuit as a “cash seize.”
“That type of condescension comes from if you’re not likely in contact with the fact of tradition,” he stated in an interview with Rolling Stone. The rapper emphasised that MGA’s actions have been exploitative, stating, “They have been those that got here and ripped us off, and anticipated us to not have the audacity to face up and converse for ourselves.”
Regardless of MGA’s founder, Isaac Larian calling the claims baseless and referring to the Harris household as “extortionists,” the jury’s choice firmly supported the OMG Girlz, reinforcing the significance of defending artistic and cultural expression.
“We did this for the tradition,” Tiny stated outdoors the courthouse, a powerful declaration of their victory.
