Seinfeld's wife accused of plagiarising cook book idea

[Food Network Fan]

Seinfeld's wife accused of plagiarising cook book idea

By Leonard Doyle in Washington

Published: 20 October 2007



She is definitely the less famous of the Seinfelds, but Jessica, wife of the comedian Jerry Seinfeld, has gained notoriety with her best-selling cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. The book shows parents how to trick their kids into healthy eating. It was a winning idea for a nation confronted by obesity especially among children weaned on a diet of junk food.
But the book contains remarkable similarities to a manuscript offered last year to the same publishers by the food writer Missy Chase Lapine, who is not married to anyone famous.


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That's really strange

[annabella]

I find things like this fascinating. I'm a huge copyright advocate for the art community.

The problem here is that sneaking healthy food into your child's diet isn't a new concept. Even the Food TV stars have been promoting this forever. And there aren't really any "new" ideas floating around...Who hasn't pureed carrots, zuccini or spinach with their tomato sauce? And who hasn't snuck in a sprinkle of flax seed now and then into muffins?

Ideas cannot be copyrighted (even if stolen right out from under you), but, the text in those books definitely is. I'd be interested to see how similar the recipes, tips and techniques are spelled out.

I think a lot of these unhealthy eating habits could be broken if America would just cook for their kids and stop letting them choose from the kids menu at restaurants...but that's another topic for another time. Sigh.

Gotta run. I'm off to Dunkin Donuts - LOL! [kidding]

[BerryBaby]

And, even way before either one of them, George Stella (remember Low Carb and Loving It) used many of these techniques on his show and in his cookbook.

I love the cauliflower (mock) mashed potatoes. Too bad he isn't on any longer. I did buy one of his cookbooks and use many of his recipes.

[Food Network Fan]

That copyright thing can be a stinger. That's why I have the fair use link in registration. I can only use 25% or less of anything that is linked to on the forum. And the link back is a must. Rss feeds are great because then the distributor can set how much they allow posted. I did have one person complain that I was using the whole article from their RSS but that is set on their end. I took it down anyway, not worth the trouble.