Tyler Perry Escape from Actress Credits Trademark Suit Validated

Tyler Perry rightly escaped an actress’ lawsuit alleging her name appearing in the credits of a video recording of his play “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” infringed her trademark, the Ninth Circuit said Monday.

A lower court didn’t err by finding inclusion of Marva King’s name in the credits to be nominal fair use while dismissing claims against Perry, who wrote the play, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said. It also upheld a finding that the district court lacked jurisdiction over Tyler Perry Studios, which is based in Georgia and didn’t exist anywhere at ...