Atlanta rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Cottle scored a major legal victory against MGA Entertainment, alleging that the toy company violated the intellectual property rights of the couple’s girl group OMG Girlz.
On Monday, a federal jury in Santa Ana, California, said MGA Entertainment owes the celebrity pair $71 million. They found that over a dozen dolls within the company’s “L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G.” line infringe upon the group’s unique style. The award includes $17.9 million in real damages and $53.6 million in punitive damages.
The victory follows three separate trials for the case, the first of which ended in a mistrial last year. The second trial ended with jurors siding with MGA Entertainment. However, last September, the couple was granted a retrial after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a separate case invalidated jurors’ claim that MGA’s dolls are protected by the First Amendment.
“We did this for the city,” Tiny said in an Instagram video following Monday’s verdict. “We did this for the culture. It was a fight. It was a hell of a fight. This fight started in 2020, and it’s 2024. We couldn’t be more happy.”
Credit: Raymond Hagans, Special to AJC
Credit: Raymond Hagans, Special to AJC
In 2009, Tiny formed the pop and R&B trio OMG Girlz, which included her daughter Zonnique Pullins, along with Bahja Rodriguez and Breaunna Womack. The group became known for their colorful hairstyles and bubblegum pop records like “Gucci This (Gucci That)” and “Where The Boys At?” They disbanded in 2015 to pursue solo careers.
Last year, the OMG Girlz reunited with the release of their single “Lover Boy.” The trio’s newest single is “Motion,” which dropped in August. In fact, the OMG Girlz told the AJC last year that the lawsuit inspired them to start making music again.
“When you’re a creative, (sometimes) your ideas really aren’t protected and major corporations always feel like they can take from creatives because they feel like we don’t have the means or the wave to fight for our creativity … it was very important to stand up for ourselves,” Rodriguez told the AJC last year.
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