T.I. & Tiny OMG Girlz Judgment Slashed

Four months ago rapper T.I. and his wife, Xscape singer, Tiny Harris, were awarded a $71 million judgement after suing the makers of the L.O.L Surprise Dolls for copying their girls singing group, 'The OMG Girlz [click here if you missed that].'

Now the judgement has been slashed to less than $20 million...

From The LA Daily News

A federal judge has tentatively ruled that rapper T.I. Harris and his singer-songwriter wife should receive $17.8 million in their legal victory over MGA Entertainment regarding a doll line in a trademark-infringement dispute — but also that the toy giant should not have to pay more than $53 million in punitive damages.

The rapper and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, won all of the $17.8 million in profits from seven MGA dolls and punitive damages of $53.6 million in a verdict handed down Sept. 23. The Harris family successfully made the case that the dolls were a copy of its OMG Girlz, an ex-rap group that included a Tiny daughter and her friends.

U.S. District Judge James Selna handed down a tentative ruling that there was not enough evidence to show MGA acted in a way that would legally warrant the punitive damages.

Under the Lanham Act, it must be shown the company willfully infringed on the trademark and that negligence isn’t enough, Selna said in the ruling.

Selna also found that the $17.8 million award will be enough to “deter” MGA from repeating the infringement.