Jessica Seinfeld Sued for Plagiarism

Well, Jerry Seinfeld, turns out vegetable plagiarism is a crime.  People is reporting that Jessica Seinfeld, cookbook author and wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, is being sued by the author of another kitchen how-to, accusing her of copyright infringement and defamation.

Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in New York on Monday alleging Seinfeld plagiarized Lapine's book in writing her cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Getting your Kids Eating Good Food, published six months later.

"This action for copyright and trademark infringement and defamation arises from conduct that gives new meaning to the terms 'arrogance' and 'greed,'" says the lawsuit, which lists what it alleges are examples of identical language in the two cookbooks.The suit also alleges Lapine alerted her publisher and Seinfeld's to the similarities between the books before Deceptively Delicious came out in October.

The suit also addresses Jerry Seinfeld's comments about Lapine in his defense of his wife in public appearances. On The Late Show with David Letterman in October, Seinfeld called Lapine a "wacko" who had been "waiting in the woodwork" for a chance to attack the Seinfelds. "My wife never saw the book, read the book, never used the book," he said.

Promoting Deceptively Delicious on The View in November, Jessica Seinfeld defended her collection of kid-friendly recipes.  "I can understand why she would have been frustrated," she said. "It must have been hard to see how quickly my book took off. I never saw her book, I never saw her recipes, nor, as a person, would I ever do something like I was accused of doing."

Comments

[BaltimoreGal]

I have to believe that she wouldn't be that stupid to totally plagiarize someone. Neither of them made up this idea, after all.

[Bobby Jones]

Easy to see why someone who wrote a cookbook would be frustrated when basically the same book takes off because the author is JERRY SEINFELD's WIFE!

Like MADONNA writing a childrens book wouldn't tick off all the legitimate but not famous childrens authors!

[Nic]

If I'm not mistaken, people have been hiding things in their kids' food for years. The concept isn't new. The recipes: brownies, mac & cheese, meatloaf, etc. are not new. Sneaking veggies into those? Not new. What differentiates these cookbooks is their methodology, Lapine has her purees sorted by color and are multi-veggie purees. Spinach in brownies? Do a google search, neither author invented it.

Yes, Seinfeld's book is successful because of her fame. That's life. She has a lot of famous friends who have been able to endorse her and support her and that equals money. Her fame is selling the book.

Lapine is missing that part, and there's nothing she can do to gain that. She would never have achieved the level of success that Seinfeld had or she would have been a hit in the six months that her book was out before Seinfeld's hit the market. In fact, this controversy is the only thing getting her into the news, thus pumping her sales. Of course she is suing, she needs to stay in the limelight.

[heather]

I saw that Late Show and I was appalled at how Jerry talked about the whole incident... I mean, maybe Jessica didn't read it, didn't plagiarize it, but the way he twisted the whole thing to be "us poor famous people" and the wacko waiting in the woodwork was ridiculous. I honestly lost a little respect for Jerry after seeing that interview.
And while I hadn't taken "sides" before that, thinking come on, it's not like no ones ever thought of hiding veggies in kids foods, after hearing Jerry I totally wanted to take Lapine's side. I think she has every right to sue... not necessarily for plagiarism (I don't have the details for that) but for defamation of character for sure!

[Izzy]

If JS's book uses the exact same language, verbiage or whatever as Missy Lapine's book, is it just a coincidence? It's hard to imagine that it is. Maybe an editor had a hand in it or maybe JS really did plagiarize. In any case, I always root for the underdog so I hope Missy Lapine gets some sort of acknowledgment, at the very least.

[jodifur]

here is a lint to what Jessica Seinfeld had to say about the lawsuit on the books website.

http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/about-the-author.php

[Suzy Q]

Nic's + Heather's comments = my comment. Thanks for doing the hard work, ladies!

[T.]

How do you read a book, "re-write" it, get it published, printed, etc. all in a month? I don't see how it's possible that it would be plagiarized.

LIke everyone else said, it's not a new idea (nor a good one, in my opinion). Both books would have been in tbe bargain bin by this Spring regardless of all of this hoopla.