BMG sues over pooping unicorn rework of Black Eyed Peas hit My Humps

completemusicupdate.com:

BMG has sued toy maker MGA Entertainment in the US over its past marketing of a slime-making product line called Poopsie Slime Surprise with a song called ‘My Poops’, which sounds rather like the Black Eyed Peas track ‘My Humps.

But with more poop.The Poopsie Slime Surprise product line was first launched in 2018 and – a lawsuit filed by BMG last week explains – “included a number of different toys, including, but not limited to, a dancing unicorn doll and a unicorn doll that excretes sparkling slime”.As for musical element to the dancing pooping toy unicorns, MGA “created a song called ‘My Poops’ that clearly copies from, and is substantially similar to, ‘My Humps'” and also made an animated video in which cartoon versions of the toy are seen “singing and dancing to the infringing work”.And it doesn’t stop there. “Defendant also incorporated the infringing work into its physical dancing unicorn toys”, the lawsuit continues. “The dancing unicorn toys start to play and dance to a copy of the infringing work when a heart-shaped bellybutton on the front of the toy is pressed”.Plus, “as a key marketing component for its Poopsie Slime Surprise product line, defendant also placed a sticker on the packaging of the dancing unicorn toy specifically directing consumers to ‘dance to’ the ‘My Poops’ song and infringing video on YouTube”.BMG then reminds the court that music, “especially a hit song such as ‘My Humps’, adds great value when incorporated into a product or used in a video advertisement, because it increases consumer recognisability, consumer engagement and attention to the product.