"copyright infringement" news and stories

Photo: Amazon.com

It turns out it was a lawsuit about nothing.

A judge has tossed out a plagiarism and copyright infringement lawsuit alleging Jerry Seinfeld's wife stole her cookbook idea from another author.

Federal Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the suit by author Missy Chase Lapine alleging the ideas and recipes for Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food" came from her "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals," the New York Daily News reports.

"This is a complete vindication of Jessica's creativity," Orin Snyder, a lawyer for Jessica Seinfeld, told the Daily News.

The judge said the only similarity between the books was their goal of hiding healthy food inside kids' meals, the Associated Press reports.

Swain declined to rule on defamation claims against Jerry Seinfeld, saying they should be filed in state court. Last year, the funnyman appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" and joked that people with three names like James Earl Ray and Mark David Chapman turn out to be assassins, the AP said.

Lapine's lawyer told the AP that claim and one against HarperCollins -- the publisher of the Seinfeld book -- "are still very much alive."

[Via Daily News, Associated Press]

I first discovered Tastespotting last summer, right around the time I started writing for Slashfood. I immediately fell in love with the site and it became a regular stop for me as I wandered around the interwebs, looking for inspiration.
Sadly, according to a handwritten notice (seen above), because of some legal complications Tastespotting is no more. Twitter is full of speculation as to what the legal issues are that shut them down, but assumption is that it was some sort of copyright infringement. Regardless of the reason, it's a sad day for the online food community.

We will miss you, Tastespotting!

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