A toy company is suing Lady Gaga for more than $10 million (Dh37 million), claiming the pop star improperly backed out of a deal to make a doll in her likeness that would play snippets of her music.

In a suit filed in New York City on Tuesday, MGA Entertainment says it paid a $1-million advance to the company that handles Gaga’s merchandising and spent a mint racing to meet deadlines to ship the dolls this summer.

But the toy maker says the plan was derailed in the spring when the merchandiser, Bravado International, abruptly balked at the part of the deal allowing the dolls to use the singer’s music, then tried to delay sales of the doll until next year.

A representative for Lady Gaga called the lawsuit “ill-conceived”.