MGA Entertainment Inc (short for Micro-Games America Entertainment) is one of the many manufacturers of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979. Its products include the Bratz fashion doll line, Baby Born, L.O.L. Surprise!, Num Noms and Poopsie Slime Surprise, and most recently Rainbow High. MGA also owns Little Tikes. MGA is headquartered in a mixed use corporate campus in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles. In 2018, the chairman and CEO of MGA Entertainment, Isaac Larian, announced that an Australian office of the business will be opening in early 2019.
Lawsuits
On July 17, 2008, the U.S. District Court in Riverside ruled against MGA Entertainment and Mattel Inc. in a battle over the creative rights of the Bratz doll line. The jury in the case determined that Carter Bryant, creator of the Bratz doll line, had violated his exclusivity contract and had designed the dolls while he was still working at Mattel. Mattel was awarded $100 million U.S. in damages, far less than the $1 billion they were seeking.
On December 3, 2008, U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson granted an injunction requested by Mattel, which effectively banned MGA from manufacturing and selling Bratz dolls, though he allowed MGA to continue selling Bratz through the end of the 2008 holiday season. Larson determined that all of MGA's Bratz produced from 2001 through 2008, except for the Kidz and Lil Angelz lines, infringed on Mattel's intellectual property. Larson allowed MGA to continue manufacturing the Kidz and Lil Angelz lines, provided that they were not promoted under the Bratz brand. He also stipulated that MGA must, at their own cost, remove all Bratz merchandise from retailers' shelves, reimburse retailers for said merchandise, and turn all recalled products over to Mattel for disposal. In addition, MGA was to destroy all marketing materials, molds, and other materials that had been used in the manufacture and sale of Bratz. MGA immediately filed for a permanent stay of the injunction and, on February 11, 2009, was granted a stay through at least the end of 2009.
On December 10, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted MGA an immediate stay of the injunction, effectively halting the recall of Bratz product, which was to have begun on January 21, 2010. In their initial ruling, the Court found Larson's previous ruling to be unusually "draconian," questioned why Mattel had simply been handed ownership of the entire franchise rather than be awarded a stake in the ownership of the franchise or a share of the royalties from future Bratz sales and ordered MGA and Mattel into mediation.
In April 2011, a federal court jury in Santa Ana, California, awarded MGA $88.4 Million and ruled that MGA didn't steal the idea for Bratz dolls from Mattel or infringe its copyright. Additionally, the jury found Mattel liable for stealing closely held trade secrets from MGA and other toymakers.
Due to a technical procedural issue having nothing to do with the merits of the claims, the Ninth Circuit vacated without prejudice the $170 million judgment against Mattel for this misconduct. On January 13, 2014, MGA filed a complaint about these claims in State court in California seeking in excess of $1 billion, and this lawsuit is currently pending.
Controversies
The L.O.L Surprise line of dolls have been criticized for being anatomically correct. [32]
In June 2020, Instagrammer Amina Mucciolo, known as Tasselfairy, alleged a doll in the L.O.L Surprise doll called "Rainbow Raver" had plagiarized her likeness from photos posted on social media. MGA denied the allegations stating they "deeply respect the artistic and creative community and would not take from a creator in the way suggested." MGA founder and CEO Isaac Larian responded to the allegations on Twitter, calling Mucciolo a "Liar and a extortinist and fraud" and a "disgrace to Black people" and threatening legal action. He later deleted these messages and posted an apology before taking down his Twitter account after receiving backlash. [35]
In August 2020, media outlets reported that L.O.L. Surprise dolls, when dunked in cold water, show what seemed to be lingerie, tattoos, and bondage gear.