T.I. And Tiny Harris Sue MGA Toy Company For Allegedly Profiting From OMG Girlz Likeness For Dolls
Two brands argue over likeliness and creative choices.
by Danteé Ramos
January 19, 2023 at 7:08 pm
The Grand Hustle family wants economic justice after discovering that the L.O.L. Surprise! dolls, which MGA Entertainment manufactures, made millions of dollars off the alleged likeliness of their former girl group OMG Girlz. T.I. and Tiny Harris launched the pre-teen girl group in 2009 with their daughter, Zonnique Pullins (Miss Star), and her friends Bahja Rodriguez (Miss Beauty), and Breaunna Womack (Miss Babydoll).
Coming soon to the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, California: Rapper T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, are going to trial to defend the intellectual property rights of the former girl rap group OMG Girlz in a lawsuit with toymaker MGA Entertainment. pic.twitter.com/5yTN39AXHA
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 5, 2023
In an April 2022 Forbes interview, Tiny reminisced on discovering the similarity between the girl group and the dolls.
“I was asked by someone if OMG Girlz had dolls available in the store. I told her no and immediately started looking into it and researching the company,” Tiny told Forbes. “I realized that the created L.O.L. Surprise! dolls had an identical appearance to the OMG Girlz. I couldn’t believe dolls were made in their likeness, and I didn’t know.”
T.I., Tiny and Zonnique left the courthouse a few minutes ago. “I be reading your Twitter,” Zonnique told me.
A YouTuber I met at Tory Lanez’s trial is here, Nique at Nite, and T.I. told her, “Per the judge’s order, gone zip it.”
They’re due back tomorrow at 8:15. pic.twitter.com/ymkG4EWM1E— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 18, 2023
“The dolls’ outfits are what struck me, and that’s how I knew they were infringing on our trademark. One outfit, in particular, stood out to me because I personally designed the outfit for the OMG Girlz tour,” she added. “It wasn’t something that I picked up in the store. So, for their doll to have on the exact outfit, I knew they stole it.”
According to Yahoo, Jennifer Keller is the opposing lawyer representing the toymaker. Keller’s opening argument states both T.I. and Tiny have “no legitimate claim to any profits from MGA Entertainment’s line of L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G.” Her second statement claims the Harrises are attempting to extort the toy company with “fabricated claims.”
“This case is about greed. That’s what it’s about. It’s a shakedown,” Keller said in her first address to the jury. “(They) want tens of millions of dollars from MGA Entertainment for doing absolutely nothing, and I do mean nothing. We’re going to show you that the OMG Girlz actually copied us, and now complain we look like them,” she said.
“They were trend followers, not trendsetters,” Keller concluded.
According to Rolling Stone, Keller argues MGA marketed dolls to align with its popular Bratz line in 2005 and claims the girl group’s name was derivative of Bratz.
David C. Scheper, T.I. and Tiny’s lawyer, argues OMG Girlz became a national brand in 2012 and performed for “jubilant” audiences in “packed arenas.”
I’ll be able to share many case documents because this is federal court and everything is online. (And I can live tweet the trial because Judge Selna allows it.) Meanwhile, I leave you with this, which is the 2nd time in three weeks I’ve seen @TheShadeRoom cited in a court case. pic.twitter.com/MMftZ2asRR
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 5, 2023
“They brought the house down, and their social media exploded thereafter, and the OMG Girlz became and remain highly relevant,” Scheper said.
The likeness argument is their strongest claim since Tiny saw photos of the dolls and noticeably recognized similarities in hair color combinations, hair cuts and outfits she designed.
A person familiar with this case warned me last night: “There are a gazillion damn dolls.”
I heard today there will be 31 dolls at issue in trial. An MGA lawyer says that means there will be 31 mini trials, as the creative origins of each doll are explored in full.
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 5, 2023
“Now, someone was watching that reunion appearance. And that someone, we don’t know who, worked at MGA Entertainment. You will see that outfits worn by the OMG Girlz at that New Year’s event in Atlanta later translated into dolls that (MGA founder) Isaac Larian and MGA are making millions of dollars off of,” Scheper said.
Scheper showed jurors a photo of OMG Girlz member Rodriguez’s half-pink, half-black hairstyle from a previous look and compared it with a L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. doll with a similar hairstyle the company released in 2019.
T.I’s stepdaughter was in OMG Girlz, as was Lil Wayne’s daughter. The trial is going to be about MGA’s OMG Dolls and whether they infringe on OMG Girlz. MGA initiated it back in 2020, but T.I. and Tiny have gone on the offensive, too, with a counterclaim. https://t.co/uAo5FViPSQ
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 5, 2023
“This is one of the most unmistakable borrowings,” Scheper told jurors.
According to Rolling Stone, Scheper also used an email chain dated Dec. 31, 2019, as evidence to support his claims of confusion between OMG Girlz and OMG Dolls.
“Hahaha!!,” the internal email forwarded to an MGA designer with the subject line, “OMG Doll in Music Video,” read. “I think they’re talking about OMG Girlz, not OMG dolls.”
T.I. & Tiny are in a SoCal courtroom for start of civil trial over claim L.O.L. doll maker copied the “name, image & trade dress” of their girl group OMG Girlz
Tiny’s daughter Zonnique Pullins is in the group & here today
Here’s pic of member Bahja Rodriguez & one of the dolls pic.twitter.com/fOzHd2jafE
— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) January 17, 2023
Scheper believes the email thread proves “evidence of actual knowledge that there is confusion just two months after the dolls were launched.”
“None of our dolls are based on the OMG Girlz. We would never design and try to market children’s toys based on the OMG Girlz and the Hussle parties, the Harris family, with which they’re associated. It is not a family most people would want their children to emulate. And you’re going to see why that is in evidence produced throughout this trial,” Keller said.
According to Rolling Stone, Scheper will call upon consumers of the dolls and fans of the girl group to testify about their confusion between the two brands when purchasing the dolls.
Rapper T.I. is at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, California, right now with his wife, Tiny, and stepdaughter Zonnique Pullins for trial in a lawsuit over dolls they say are based on Zonnique’s former group the OMG Girlz. They walked in from lunch about 20 minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/31XTQ8nMCl
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 17, 2023
“We were initially excited because the L.O.L. Dolls are a big deal and thought maybe we could work something out. I sat with my lawyer and decided to send a cease and desist,” Tiny said to Forbes. “They immediately sued me. They didn’t respond or try to sit down and talk. So, I countersued.”
T.I. and Tiny will be called as witnesses during the upcoming trial and so will MGA founder Larian.