US News

GIANT ROBOTS STOLE MY IDEA

It was played for laughs in the smash “Transformers” movie, but there’s more to the “Bee-otch” air freshener than meets the eye.

Producers of the summer hit allegedly ripped off a Brooklyn woman’s popular copyrighted design of an angry bee for a sight gag in the flick.

In papers filed in Brooklyn federal court, Alia Madden says the only big difference between her “Bee-otch” air freshener and the one in the film is the deletion of her copyright notice.

“Now she tries to sell her work, which had been a consistent seller, and people think she’s ripping off ‘Transformers,’ ” said lawyer Daniel Abraham.

Madden came up with the design for a bee over the word “Bee-otch” back in 2002, and licensed it out for use on air fresheners, mugs and shirts.

In June, she attended a merchandisers convention at the Javits Center and was stunned to see it being displayed on air fresheners in the “Transformers” booth.

Madden, 34, said the movie’s producers, DreamWorks, bought several of her air fresheners, but never asked permission to sell a version of it.

After the movie was released, Madden discovered her design was also featured in the flick.

One heroic transformer, named Bumblebee, appears in the film in the guise of a battered black and yellow Camaro.

The disguised Bumblebee “has an automobile air freshener hanging from its rear view mirror which is . . . nearly identical, to the image created by plaintiff,” the suit says.

The suit seeks $850,000 from the filmmakers. A rep did not return a call.