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A federal judge is reportedly considering significantly reducing a multimillion-dollar settlement previously awarded to Clifford “T.I.” Harris and Tameka “Tiny” Harris. Multiple reports indicate that the judge is contemplating lowering the $71 million settlement to $17.8 million due to insufficient evidence that MGA acted in bad faith, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Last year, a jury awarded the Atlanta couple $71 million after a lengthy legal battle with MGA concerning the alleged misappropriation of their likeness in its popular ‘L.O.L. (Li’l Outrageous Littles) Surprise Dolls line, as reported by AFROTECH™. “Jurors reportedly agree that ‘L.O.L. Surprise! OMG dolls’ infringed on the trade dress and misappropriated the name, image, and likeness of the all-female group that T.I. and Tiny formed,” AFROTECH™ reported. During the weeks-long trial, lawyers pointed out seven MGA Dolls with appearances uncanny to the singers at “ very specific public events.” Tiny’s oldest daughter, Zonnique...
Today’s young adults had no shortage of dolls to play with in childhood, from Barbie and her fabulous friends to the always stylish Bratz crew. There was Polly Pocket and MyScene too, but it wasn’t until late 2016 that the girls of L.O.L. (Lil Outrageous Littles) Surprise! entered the chat. The miniature dolls come from MGA Entertainment Inc., which founder Isaac Larian has an 82% stake in. Interestingly, the remaining 18% belongs to his family. While they quickly became a hit among young fashionistas , the L.O.L. Surprise! dolls have faced some controversies over the past decade, which have caused a noticeable cut in quality and quantity. Now that rapper T.I. and his vocalist wife, Tiny, have successfully won a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against MGA, it’s unclear what the future holds for L.O.L. What Exactly Are L.O.L. Surprise! Dolls? Photo Credit: Dan Kitwood Not long after the L.O.L. Surprise! line debuted, it became America’s No. 1 toy for most of 2017. The next year, MGA...
A resolution has been reached for a song that was removed from Kanye West’s “Vultures 1” album. Per Rolling Stone, “Good (Don’t Die)” had been pulled from streaming platforms Spotify and Apple as it allegedly infringed on the rights of Donna Summer. Her estate claimed the song was created through a “blatant theft” of her single “I Feel Love” and had filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in February 2024. “In the face of this rejection, defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal ‘I Feel Love’ and use it without permission,” the lawsuit said, according to Rolling Stone. The outlet also stated: “The filing accused the songwriters of re-recording ‘almost verbatim’ the most ‘memorable portions’ of Summer’s song, using the material as the hook for their own song, and releasing their infringing track ‘knowing they had tried and failed to secure legal permission.’” Furthermore, the official Donna Summer account had shared in its Instagram Story on Feb. 10 that...
If you hear the adjectives “crazy, ” “sexy” and “cool” presented in that order – one thing should come to mind. And that is the musical styling and cultural impact of the women of TLC. Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes captivated the hearts of millions with their pop hits and imprint on the fashion world. The Atlanta-based girl group would skyrocket into superstardom with their debut album, “Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip.” Their first album, released in 1992, would host chart-topping singles like “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg”, “What About Your Friends,” and “Baby-Baby-Baby.” The group avoided the sophomore slump by releasing one of their most popular albums in 1994 – “CrazySexyCool.” TLC would go on to have four No. 1 hits and nine singles to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. With so much musical success, it is no surprise that they would become the second biggest-selling female group with 23 million certified units over their career. The...
Megan Thee Stallion and Big Sean are the latest rappers being sued for copyright infringement for their single “Go Crazy” released in 2020. After dropping new music, sometimes artists find their celebrations cut short due to an unforeseen lawsuit — and these two are no exception. According to court documents provided to Complex, Duawn Payne (Go Hard Major) and Harrell James (H-Matic) filed the copyright infringement lawsuit against the Hip-Hop artists due to claims that their single was “strikingly similar” to their song “Krazy,” which was released in 2012. Before the lawsuit, Payne and James issued a cease and desist to Megan Thee Stallion and Big Sean in March for their alleged “willful and reckless disregard” of their copyrights, HipHopDx reports.
Damon Dash has lost the “Dear Frank” lawsuit. According to TMZ, the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records has been ordered to pay Josh Webber and Muddy Waters Pictures more than $800,000 to settle the company’s lawsuit for defamation and copyright infringement. “I will get every penny due my clients,” promises Chris Brown, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the matter. According to HipHopDX, though, the two parties weren’t shy about exchanging verbal barbs in the media regarding the matter. Webber went on a tear on Instagram (which has since been deleted) calling Damon Dash a liar and accusing him of everything from the verbal abuse of the staff to being high on the set. For his part, Dash claimed that Webber was a “culture vulture” and was “trying to take credit for a Black man’s work.” It bears noting that while Webber’s rants have been deleted, Dash’s rants have not — and according to legal experts, this may have worked against him in the matter. Molly B. Kenny, who works in divorce...
Former police officer and newly-elected New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been in office for less than a week. But he’s already causing New Yorkers to shake their collective heads and ask themselves what they’ve really gotten into. The city’s second-ever Black mayor is making headlines because of his comments about essential workers. Eric Adams just said “Low skill workers like cooks, messengers and Dunkin’ Donuts employees don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office” pic.twitter.com/KaoY9MNZ8J — Achmat X (@AchmatX) January 4, 2022 In his misguided (at best) speech, Eric Adams referred to essential workers — which included shoe shiners, cooks, dishwashers, and “those who work at Dunkin’ Donuts” — as “low-skilled.” He went on to claim that these workers “don’t have the academic skills” to “sit in a corner office” (Yes, you read that right). The same workers who were getting applause and “thank you” banners at the beginning of the pandemic — who were essential in helping...
Nearly eight months after Facebook removed Britain First–a far-right, fascist organization, from the platform for hate speech and violating its community standards–ads from the group began surfacing on the platform. Facebook recently removed Britain First ads petitioning to stop a mosque from being built in the U.K. The ads were posted during the holiday season on a gaming page by Political Gamers TV, a network dedicated to “gamers worldwide who wish no limits on speech.” Political Gamers TV is calling the removal of the ads “political discrimination” and plans to sue Facebook, according to the BBC. Facebook has made a growing effort to remove accounts, ads, and groups that violate its community standards. In November, Facebook removed alt-right group Proud Boys , its followers, and founder, Gavin McInnes, from using Facebook groups and Instagram after being linked to violent protests in New York. Facebook is one of many social media platforms and other websites cracking down on...