Rapper T.I. and his wife, singer-songwriter Tameka ‘Tiny’ Harris, have been awarded a whopping $71 million by a jury in their lawsuit against MGA Entertainment, the toy conglomerate they alleged violated the intellectual property rights of their teen pop group the OMG Girlz with their popular L.O.L.
Surprise! O.M.G. line of dolls. Per the Daily Journal, which first reported the news, jurors bequeathed the couple $17.8 million in real damages and $53.6 million in punitive damages at the end of the three-week trial held in a federal court in Santa Ana, Calif.
As previously reported, this is the Grammy-winning duo’s third attempt to sue: The initial trial, held in January of last year, ended in a mistrial when jurors heard barred testimony accusing the company of cultural appropriation.
The second time, some months later, resulted in an MGA Entertainment victory; however, a June 2023 Supreme Court ruling allowed for the case to be retried, when it was deemed that consumer confusion about a product should carry more weight than previously regarded in infringement cases.
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