In a previous posting discussing copyright protection for recipes, I mentioned the copyright infringement and defamation lawsuit against Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld filed by Missy Chase Lapine.
Lapine’s Copyright
Claim
Copyright law does not protect concepts, processes, and procedures. A recipe that simply lists ingredients and the procedures for completing the dish is not going to qualify for copyright protection. Similarly, the concept or idea of hiding vegetables in food to get children to eat them is ineligible for copyright protection. Anyone can use that concept or idea. So unless Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious copies language verbatim from Lapine’s The Sneaky Chef, I anticipate a quick dismissal of Lapine’s copyright claim against Jessica Seinfeld.
Lapine’s Defamation Claim
The defamation claim may have a longer life than the copyright claim. The defamation charges stem from Jerry Seinfeld‘s appearance on the October 29, 2007 Late Show with David Letterman. During the show, Seinfeld described Missy Chase Lapine as a “wacko”. He also noted that Lapine had three names and that “ . . . If you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins . . . Mark David Chapman. And you know, James Earl Ray. . ."
Seinfeld says that his remarks about Lapine were just a joke.
You defame someone when you make a false statement about the person and the statement harms the person’s reputation or makes the person an object of public ridicule. A joke, similar to a statement
of opinion, is not defamatory as long as your audience realizes that your remarks are not meant literally.
Merely labeling his remarks as a joke are not going to insulate Jerry Seinfeld from the defamation
claims. It’s the total context in which the remarks were made that determine whether the statement is defamatory. In deciding whether Seinfeld’s remarks about Lapine qualify as a joke that cannot be defamatory, a court will consider
If the interview left the audience with the impression that Jerry Seinfeld was truly calling Lapine a “wacko” and a potential stalker, the defamation claims may not be as easy to dismiss as the Seinfelds would like.