Although not venued in the Commercial Division, in a February 23, 2011, decision by Justice Friedman, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss with prejudice. Plaintiff published a cookbook of healthy-food recipes for children. After defendant-publisher later released a similar cookbook written by defendant-Seinfeld’s wife, plaintiff brought suit alleging that defendant-publisher wrongfully used her idea for a cookbook about hiding nutritious ingredients in children’s favorite foods. The court dismissed plaintiff’s cause of action for misappropriation against defendant-publisher because she failed to plead a legally-sufficient relationship between the parties, her idea was not sufficiently novel, and because her cause of action, in any event, would be preempted by the Copyright Act. Plaintiff also sued defendant-Seinfeld for referring to her as, among other things, a “wacko” and “nut job” on David Letterman and E! News in connection with the lawsuit. The court also dismissed plaintiff’s cause of action for defamation, concluding that Seinfeld’s statements were expressions of opinion regarding the lack of merit of plaintiff’s claims and therefore not actionable.
Lapine v Seinfeld, Sup Ct, New York County, February 23, 2011, Friedman, J., Index No. 150051/10