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Seinfeld defends/wins copyright infringement case

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

Jessica Seinfeld, wife of Jerry, successfully defended in SD NY against a copyright infringement suit brought by Missy Chase Lapine.

In terms of bad reportng, note the text:

The judge in New York threw out the plagiarism and copyright and trademark infringement case, which Seinfeld's lawyer called "a complete victory for Jessica Seinfeld." But not so fast -- the judge didn't rule on a plagiarism suit brought by Lapine against Jerry Seinfeld after he made fun of Lapine for having three names a la Lee Harvey Oswald and and mocked her "vegetable plagiarism" lawsuit on the "Late Show with David Letterman" in 2007. The judge says the defamation case is more suited to state court.

Plagiarism vs defamation?

Of the decision, U.S. District Judge Laura Swain noted: "Many of the alleged similarities are shared by cookbooks as a whole and the genre of cookbooks addressing encouraging healthy eating in children," and, as to style, Lapine's book was "dry, rather text-heavy work" whereas Jessica Seinfeld's was "bright and cheerful, full of different colors."

See also:

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/10/seinfelds-vegetable-plagiarism.html

Full post as published by IPBiz on September 11, 2009 (boomark / email).