Pop group OMG Girlz awarded $71m payout over dolls that copied their image and name

The firm denied ripping off the three-piece group but a jury disagreed and gave the green light for a hefty payout.

OMG Girlz in 2012. Pic: AP

A toy company must pay $71.5m (£53m) for making dolls infringing the name and likeness of a US teen pop group.

OMG Girlz sued MGA Entertainment over its LOL Surprise! OMG dolls, arguing the company had copied their look and brand.

On Tuesday, the group finally won the long-running intellectual property case after a California jury agreed they had been ripped off.

It awarded $17.9m (£13.3m) in real damages and $53.6m (£39.9m) in punitive damages, saying their “trade dress” and “name, likeness and identity” had been infringed.

The payout goes to the group’s three members – Zonnique Pullins, Bahja Rodriguez and Breaunna Womack – and to Pullins’ mother and stepfather, Tameka ‘Tiny Harris’ and Chris T.I. Harris.

“This is for creatives everywhere,” Rodriguez wrote.

“No longer will we be bullied into silence when it comes to others profiting off of our ideas and creativity.”

The legal action began in 2020 when MGA disputed a cease-and-desist notice from the group.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/pop-group-omg-girlz-awarded-71m-payout-over-dolls-that-copied-their-image-and-name-13221627

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