We’ve already discussed the controversy over Jessica Seinfeld’s kid-friendly cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, which is suspiciously similar to Missy Chase Lapine’s previously published book, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals. And now, the saga continues. CNN reports that Lapine is suing both Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, seeking damages for copyright and trademark infringement.
Now, we all know that there are a lot of similar cookbooks out there, and YumSugar makes a good point:
After all, if a lawsuit came out every time there was a cookbook that was ‘too similar’ to another cookbook, wouldn’t that mean there would only be one baking book? One quick-suppers book? One book on bbq?
Plus, sneaking healthy food onto kids’ dinner plates is not a new idea, and in the words of literary agent Rachelle Gardner, “you can’t copyright an idea.” So it’s hard to say whether this lawsuit holds any water.
But what’s up with Jerry Seinfeld bullying Lapine on national television? According to mediabistro.com’s GalleyCat blog, Seinfeld was mighty imprudent during some TV spots. In an appearance on E!, he repeatedly referred to Lapine as a “nut job,” and when he was on Letterman, Jerry joked, “she’s a three-name woman… If you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins… Mark David Chapman. And you know, James Earl Ray. So that’s my concern.” Yowch! That’s a low blow, and really not even that funny. Check out USA Today for more excerpts from Jerry’s tirade.
Beyond concept, I should think word choice would matter; not knowing either book, the titles alone read an awful lot alike.
You can’t copyright a title — unfortunately, if you’re the one who thought of it. And there are many, MANY instances of similar books publishing close to each other — the same way America had two volcano movies close together, two asteroid movies — you know the drill.
As a writer, that’s one of my secret fears – some fellow scribe will catch wind of my idea and decide to do it.
On the Seinfeld suit, I think the books came out within months of each other, and it takes so long to get something to press, I really doubt there was plagiarism — just a couple clever writers who each read the same article and thought of their own kids and how it would be a great book. THAT happens frequently, I think.
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