The funniest music-related lawsuit of 2023 has ended before it could fully move through the bowels of the American legal system: BMG has settled its suit with MGA Entertainment after alleging the toymaker infringed the Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps” with a jingle for a line of slime-shitting unicorns dubbed, “My Poops.”
The accord was reached earlier this week, with lawyers for MGA Entertainment alerting the judge that “the parties have a signed settlement agreement.” Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and lawyers for both BMG and MGA Entertainment did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.
The lawsuit was originally filed back in January and centered around MGA’s Poopsie Slime Surprise toys. BMG, in its lawsuit, said MGA displayed “willful copyright infringement” and “exploited, without authorization” when it transformed “My Humps” into “My Poops” to advertise the the product a couple years ago.
(Tragically — but also obviously unsurprisingly — the original jingle isn’t readily available on YouTube anymore. But you can the gist of it via this meme-ified version, ridiculously titled, “’Poopsie Slime Surprise Music Video’ but the filter changes every 3rd time poop is mentioned. God bless the internet.)
In its lawsuit, BMG said MGA “created a song called My Poops that clearly copies from, and is substantially similar to, ‘My Humps.” It went on to highlight similarities between the two songs’ lyrics, bass line, and even the Fergie-like inflection in which “My Poops” is delivered.
BMG’s lawsuit notably did not refer to “My Poops” as a parody, as parody is technically protected under the First Amendment. The question over whether “My Poops” would’ve qualified as parody actually would’ve made the lawsuit an intriguing litmus test on current questions of parody, fair use, and copyright protections. Alas, the settlement pinched off and flushed away that possibility.
As it happens, the “My Poops” lawsuit isn’t the only high-profile copyright infringement suit MGA Entertainment was involved in this year. Back in May, the company emerged victorious after T.I. and Tiny sued it over their L.O.L. Surprise OMG” dolls. The couple accused the company of stealing the name, likeness, and trade dress of OMG Girlz, a pop trio Tiny formed in 2009. The case first went to trial in January, but a mistrial was declared after T.I. and Tiny’s lawyers accused MGA of “racist and cultural appropriation.” A second go-round took place in May, with the jury needing less than two hours to rule in MGA Entertainment’s favor.