Seinfelds deny defamation on LS

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=312818

Seinfelds deny plagiarism lawsuit
Wednesday Feb 27 11:32 AEDT

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his wife deny he defamed the author of a
rival cookbook in a television appearance and have asked for the
dismissal of a plagiarism suit filed over the book.

Jessica's Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to
Getting Your Kids Eating Good Food, was published by Harper Collins in
2007 six months after Missy Chase Lapine's book The Sneaky Chef:
Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favourite Meals,
according to Lapine's lawsuit.

Seinfeld's lawyers admitted he joked about Lapine on Late Show with
David Letterman but said it did not amount to slander, according a
court filing seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.

"Jerry Seinfeld made overstatements of opinion for comic effect," the
motion said.

Lapine, who filed the suit in January seeking unspecified damages,
said Jessica Seinfeld's book plagiarised her own in concept, cover
art, style and structure.

It also said Jerry Seinfeld implied on Letterman's show that Lapine
was a "wacko," celebrity stalker and joked that Lapine had publicly
accused his wife of "vegetable plagiarism."

But in court papers filed on Friday, lawyers for the Seinfelds said
beyond the basic idea of a book about how to get kids to eat healthy
foods - which did not infringe copyright - the two books differed "in
terms of style, design, organisation, or look and feel."

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