(EXCLUSIVE) Tyler Perry – $70 Million Lawsuit Accusing Him of Stealing Movie Dismissed
theJasmineBRAND.com exclusively reports, Tyler Perry has shut down a $70 million dollar lawsuit accusing him of stealing from an unknown author, with a federal court judge throwing out the entire case due and awarding the writer nothing from her complaint and blasted her for filing the suit.
Last year, a woman named Terri Strickland filed a suit against Perry accusing him of ripping off her book for his hit film “Good Deeds“.
Strickland explained she is an author of a book entitled, “Bad Apples Can Be Good Fruit” and it is copyrighted. She said her book has a unique story line, characters, scenes and overall theme.
The woman claimed she mailed a copy of the book to Perry’s office in Atlanta back in 2008. She said she was looking for a production company to help her turn it into a movie. However, instead of reaching out to her after receiving the work, she is accused the director of stealing her material and claiming it as his own.
Strickland said that Perry turned her story into the film “Good Deeds”- which starred Gabrielle Union & Thandie Newton – and never received her permission or gave her a dime from the profits.
She filed suit for $70 million dollars in damages along with an injunction from the film continuing to be released.
Then in January, Perry headed to court and blasted her accusations, explaining the woman had previously attempted to sue him of “Good Deeds” back in 2012.
He said the judge heard both arguments in court and his decision noted the two works only bear the most passing similarities. The order explained the author’s story is about a woman baring her past to an accepting lover and overcoming the scheming of a jealous ex-girlfriend. Perry’s work focuses on a wealthy man saving a struggling single mother.
Perry demanded the entire $70 million dollar lawsuit be thrown out of court, since the woman already lost in court over the same allegations.
Then on March 24th, the federal court judge came back with his decision and sided with the famous director by throwing out the entire case and awarding the woman nothing from her $70 million dollar complaint.
The order states that Strickland has indeed already tried to bring these claims against Perry. The previous case – back in 2013 – was decided by a federal court judge who threw out her case saying the works had no substantial similarities as she claimed. The judge says the law is very clear — legally you are not allowed to bring the same claims against a person once you already lost.
Therefore, the judge dismissed all claims against Perry and awarded the woman nothing from her $70 million complaint.
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