Jerry Seinfeld and Wife Jessica Sued Over ‘Deceptively Delicious’

Allie @ Gone Hollywood | Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Jerry Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica, were sued yesterday for defamation and copyright infringement over Jessica’s cookbook called, “Deceptively Delicious“.

Jerry Seinfeld and Wife Jessica Sued Over ‘Deceptively Delicious’ - PIC

Jessica has already denied the accusations from another cookbook author, Missy Chase Lapine, that she copied her recipes. Missy’s book came out a few months before and had several of the same recipes.

Attorneys for Missy Chase Lapine, author of “The Sneaky Chef,” today filed a lawsuit against Jessica Seinfeld and Jerry Seinfeld for copyright and trademark infringement and defamation in Federal District Court in New York.

The lawsuit alleges that Jessica Seinfeld blatantly plagiarized Ms. Lapine’s book, “The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals,” a critically-acclaimed and commercially successful cookbook with an innovative approach to improving children’s eating habits.

“The Sneaky Chef” shows parents how to, among other things, camouflage purees of carefully selected fruits and vegetables as ingredients in less healthy foods that kids like, such as cheeseburgers, pizza and brownies.

Running Press Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, published “The Sneaky Chef” in April, 2007, generating positive reviews and quickly becoming a New York Times bestseller.

Six months later, in October, 2007, Jessica Seinfeld released a substantially similar book, “Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Getting Your Kids Eating Good Food.”

Prior to the publication of “Deceptively Delicious,” Ms. Lapine saw promotional material and alerted her publisher to the striking similarities between the two books, including cover art, subtitles, structure, design and overall look and feel. Running Press, seeking to prevent any violation of Ms. Lapine’s rights, brought the striking similarities to the attention of Jessica Seinfeld’s publisher.

Jessica Seinfeld’s publisher, which had earlier reviewed and passed up a book proposal by Ms. Lapine, nonetheless published the book with only insignificant changes. The lawsuit lists detailed examples of identical language in the two books.

At the same time, Jerry Seinfeld went on a malicious campaign against Ms. Lapine, publicly calling her a “nut job” and “hysterical.” On an appearance on ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ in October 2007, Mr. Seinfeld called Ms. Lapine a “wacko” who had been “waiting in the woodwork” for a chance to attack the Seinfelds. He also asserted, incorrectly, that the two books came out “at the same time.” The lawsuit cites several examples of defamatory language by Mr. Seinfeld, apparently intended to intimidate Ms. Lapine.

“This action for copyright and trademark infringement and defamation arises from conduct that gives new meaning to the terms ‘arrogance’ and ‘greed,’” states the lawsuit.

Seinfeld is the embodiment of arrogant entitlement. It’s totally outrageous the way he casually links the lady who is suing him and his wife with men who have assassinated presidents. He might have a lot of money but he’s got no class.

source: Cookbook Author Sues Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld for Copyright Infringement and Defamation [reuters]