T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris have been awarded an enormous sum of money after winning a lawsuit against doll brand LOL Surprise! OMG dolls.
According to Rolling Stone, the couple were awarded $71 million after it was ruled that OMG dolls infringed upon their intellectual property rights.
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“We did this for the city. We did this for the culture,” Tiny said outside the courthouse in California after the verdict was delivered.
She continued: “It was a fight. It was a hell of a fight. We couldn’t be more happy.”
The Xscape singer also thanked the jurors for the verdict: “We wanted to thank the jurors for just seeing us through this, and just believing in what we said. They heard our story and they knew we wasn’t lying. It’s amazing.”
T.I. told Rolling Stone after the victory: “I think justice was served. I think it’s a testament to the relentlessness and resilience of my wife, daughter and nieces.
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“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.”
The complaint was the couple’s third attempt at suing MGA Entertainment over their line of LOL Surprise! OMG dolls, which they claimed copied the appearance of their teen pop group OMG Girlz.
The ruling found that seven of the dolls in the product line copied the likeness of the group, which also featured Tiny’s daughter Star who testified during the hearing, as did her bandmates.
In addition to celebrating, T.I. criticized MGA in his interview with Rolling Stone after the lawsuit reached its conclusion.
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“[They were] trying to paint me as the bad guy when really, they were the [bad] ones,” he said. “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.”
The Hustle Gang honcho added: “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 against you.”
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He also accused the toy giant of using “bully tactics” during the legal dispute.
MGA had frequently denied allegations of copyright infringement, claiming the dolls were not based on the recently reunited girl group and through their attorneys attacked T.I. and Tiny for pursuing the lawsuit, even labeling the couple “extortionists.”
MGA Entertainment have yet to respond to the verdict.
