Judge Downsizes T.I. and Tiny Harris' OMG Girlz Lawsuit Payout

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A federal judge has officially downsized the payout that will be awarded to T.I. and Tiny Harris in their intellectual property lawsuit against the makers of the L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. dolls.

As previously reported, the couple were initially rewarded a whopping $71 million after the courts ruled unanimously that the dolls’ distributor, MGA Entertainment, violated IP rights by copying the likeness of their girl group, the OMG Girlz, for their popular doll line.

RELATED: Rapper T.I. & His Wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, Secure $71 Million Payout In OMG Girlz Lawsuit

However, on Monday, U.S. District Judge James Selna handed down a tentative ruling to eliminate the $53.6 million in punitive damages that was awarded.

As reported by MyNewsLA, he made his ruling under the Lanham Act. The act states that there has to be enough evidence to prove that the defendant intentionally infringed upon the plaintiff’s trademark. Selna said that while MGA was negligent in making sure they weren’t copying the OMG Girlz’s image, it wasn’t proven to be intentional.

“Here, the evidence shows that, at most, MGA and (owner and founder Isaac) Larian were negligent about investigating an alleged claim of infringement, but not that they acted with reckless indifference or willfulness.”

Selna also rejected the couple’s claim of consumer confusion because they never produced a doll line themselves. He did add that Tiny once entertained the idea of a doll line at some point but dropped the project when the prototypes “didn’t turn out the way she liked.”

Although the $53.6 million was eliminated, T.I. and Tiny will still get the $17.8 million awarded to them in actual damages.