(2005) Tags: Lionsgate
West v. Perry
West brought an action for copyright infringement against Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry Company, and Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc. West wrote and performed the play “Fantasy of a Black Woman” at the Dallas Junior Black Academy in 1991. Generally, the play is about a woman who is faced with difficult domestic issues including an abusive and unfaithful husband who abandons his family for his mistress. Tyler Perry performed at the Dallas Junior Black Academy in 1998/1999. In 2001, Perry began performing the play “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” about a woman who copes with having her prominent husband leave her for his mistress. In 2005, Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc. made “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” into a movie. West alleged Perry had access to her play when he was at the Dallas Junior Black Academy and he copied it in creating “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”