A toymaker sought $6 million after winning a legal battle against T.I. and Tiny Harris.
According to Billboard, MGA Entertainment wanted the couple to repay the company for money spent on a lawsuit over the toymaker’s OMG Dolls. T.I. and Tiny claimed MGA ripped off their group OMG Girlz to create the dolls in a dispute that began in 2021.
A Los Angeles jury sided with MGA at a trial in May. Jurors determined the toymaker did not steal the name and likeness of the T.I. and Tiny’s OMG Girlz.
MGA demanded repayment for its legal fees in a court filing on Monday (June 26). The company said the OMG Girlz dispute was an “exceptional” case where judges can order the losing party to cover the winner’s legal bills.
“Both in the manner the OMG Girlz litigated this case, and the weakness of the substantive claims and theories the OMG Girlz presented (as confirmed by the jury), the Court should conclude that this case stands out from others,” MGA argued in a filing obtained by Billboard.
MGA cited January’s mistrial as an example of what made the case exceptional. T.I. and Tiny introduced inadmissible testimony at the original trial in January, forcing the lawsuit to be relitigated in May. MGA believed the couple’s “litigation tactics, over-reaching claims and misconduct” justified an award of more than $6.1 million.
