NEW YORK (AP) — Toy maker MGA Entertainment must pay $71.5 million in damages for infringing on the name and likeliness of teen pop group OMG Girlz with one of its popular lines of dolls, a federal jury has decided. Monday’s verdict hands a win to OMG Girlz — as well as Xscape singer Tameka “Tiny” Harris and rapper Chris “T.
I.” Harris — in the third court trial related to a yearslong intellectual property battle with the California company. Among a web of back-and-forth claims, MGA’s “L.
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M.G.” dolls were held to have a name and style similar to that of the all-female band, including seemingly lookalike clothing.
The jury found that a handful of the dolls infringed on OMG Girlz’s “trade dress” and/or misappropriated the “name, likeness and identity” of the music group. As a result, court documents show, jurors awarded OMG Girlz, Tiny and T.I.
$17.9 million in real damages plus $53.6 million in punitive damages.
Tiny and T.I. are the mother and stepfather of OMG Girlz member Zonnique Pullins.
On Monday, Pullins and her fellow OMG Girlz members Bahja Rodriguez and Breaunna Womack all celebrated the verdict in posts to Instagram. “This is for creatives everywhere,” Rodriguez wrote. “No longer will we be bullied into silence when it comes to others profiting off of our ideas and creativity.
” Tiny, who has been particularly outspoken about the case over the years, also applauded the decision Monday. In 2020, MGA filed a lawsui.