Hip-hop mogul T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris scored a massive $71 million jury award Monday after winning their third court trial over claims toy titan MGA Entertainment violated the intellectual property rights of their teen pop group OMG Girlz with its wildly popular “L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G.” line of dolls.
Jurors awarded the couple and their companies $17.9 million in real damages and a whopping $53.6 million in punitive damages following a three-week trial in a federal courtroom in Santa Ana, California.
“I mean, wow. They did more than I thought they would,” Tiny tells Rolling Stone after she reacted to the eye-popping award. “I would have been happy with whatever. They blessed us more than beyond. We wanted to thank the jurors so bad, but we didn’t get the opportunity.”
In a complex verdict read Monday afternoon, the jurors said 13 dolls among more than 30 at issue infringed on the trade dress and misappropriated the name, image, and likeness of the all-female band that T.I. and Tiny formed in 2009 with Tiny’s daughter Zonnique “Star” Pullins as a core member. A 14th doll violated the group’s trade dress while a 15th misappropriated the OMG Girlz’s name, image and likeness, the jury found.
“I think justice was served. I think it’s a testament to the relentlessness and resilience of my wife, daughter and nieces,’ T.I. tells Rolling Stone by phone, minutes after the verdict was read. “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.” He called the verdict a win for “the people who actually put hard work and effort into building and creating things from nothing.”
During the trial, MGA’s lawyer called the couple’s lawsuit a “money grab.” T.I. said he was happy the jury didn’t agree. “I think that was a bully tactic, trying to paint me as the bad guy when really, they were the [bad] ones,” he says. “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.”
Outside the courthouse, Tiny thanked her legal team, including John Keville, Chante Westmoreland, Robert Green, and B’Ivory LaMarr. “At the end of the day, the evidence showed [MGA] stole from us. They stole from our creation,” she tells Rolling Stone. “I’m glad we stuck with it. No one could tell me they did not steal from us.”
At trial, T.I. and Tiny alleged MGA marketed seven specific dolls with looks that copied the way the OMG Girlz appeared at “very specific public events” or in publicized photos. MGA denied the allegations. Its billionaire founder Isaac Larian testified that T.I., Tiny, and the three members of the OMG Girlz — Zonnique “Star” Pullins, Bahja “Beauty” Rodriguez, and Breaunna “Babydoll” Womack — played no role in the design of his dolls. He called them “extortionists.”
Pullins, Rodriguez, and Womack attended the trial and testified. They hugged in the hallway outside the courtroom after the verdict. “I’m so grateful and overwhelmed with joy,” Womack says. Pullins adds: “When the judge asked if we had a memorable trade dress and everyone raised their hands, I got so emotional. We all silently cried.”
In closing arguments Friday, the sides sparred over the scope of the OMG Girlz ‘s fame, what constituted market confusion and the difference between inspiration and misappropriation. Keville showed jurors more than a dozen social media posts from people saying they believed the MGA dolls were based on the OMG Girlz.
“This case is really about one side that believes they can do what they want, and they can push people around,” Keville argued. He also pointed out that four consumers gave sworn testimony, either live or through videotaped depositions, saying they had assumed the OMG Girlz were behind the MGA dolls.
MGA’s lawyer Paul J. Loh called the infringement allegations “baseless and offensive,” saying his clients sold more than 40 million “L.O.L Surprise! O.M.G.” dolls and “never received one complaint” from a customer saying they were “confused” about a possible association with the OMG Girlz. “It’s not right what’s happening,” Loh said of the infringement claims during his closing argument. “We’re here to vindicate the truth.”
The jury delivered their verdict Monday after two prior juries heard much of the same evidence in prior proceedings with the same judge, U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna. The first trial in January 2023 ended in a mistrial when jurors heard barred testimony accusing the toy company of “cultural appropriation.”
The case got its second trial in spring 2023, with the jury handing a victory to MGA. T.I. and Tiny were granted a retrial in September 2023 after the Supreme Court ruled in June 2023 that the First Amendment didn’t necessarily protect a dog toy company that created a humorous chew toy that looked like a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Justice Elena Kagan’s opinion sent the message that consumer confusion should carry more weight than previously thought in infringement cases involving expressive works.
When he testified earlier this month, T.I. said he believed the seven dolls represented “undeniably blatant” infringement when compared to looks that the OMG Girlz wore to specific events, such at their All Around the World tour and a New Years Eve performance in Atlanta. “You can hold them up to these pictures and see. Anyone with eyes can see that this picture influenced this doll,” he testified. T.I. said his camp had narrowed the number of allegedly infringing dolls from more than 30 down to the specific seven to focus on the “most undeniable” alleged theft and save time.