Popsquire

A federal court judge decided today that while Jessica Seinfeld is not a veggie villain, Jerry could still be on the hook for his rotten jokes.

[Bauer Griffin Online]

As a refresher, Missy Chase Lapine and Jessica Seinfeld released books in 2007 about how to sneak vegetables into kids’ meals.  Lapine filed a lawsuit alleging that Jessica plagiarized her book.  She also sued Jerry for defamation after he appeared on Late Night With David Letterman and compared Lapine to the killers of John Lennon and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The judge threw out the plagiarism case, but left open the possibility that Lapine can continue with the defamation suit in state court.

While no one can blame Lapine for being angry about the comparison to killers, a state court might tell her to get a sense of humor.  For a statement to constitute defamation, it must be a statement of fact and not an opinion.

If Jerry can show a judge that his statements were simply opinion disguised as jokes, then he can win.  This could be the toughest audience of his career!

According to E! Online, Jerry Seinfeld’s attorneys continue to ask a judge to throw out a lawsuit for trademark infringement and slander filed in New York by Missy Chase Lapine against Jerry and his wife, Jessica.

If you are not familiar with this case, here’s what you need to know…

1. Lepine’s book, “The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies For Hiding Healthy Foods In Kids’ Favorite Meals,” — a book about how to sneak veggies into kids’ meals — was released in April 2007.
2. Jessica Seinfeld’s book, “Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets To Get Your Kids Eating Good Food,” — also about how to sneak veggies into kids’ meals — was released in October 2007.
3. On October 8, 2007, Jessica Seinfeld appeared on Oprah to promote her book.
4. In response to accusations that his wife had plagiarized Lapine’s recipes, Jerry compared her to the killers of John Lennon and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while making an appearance on Late Night With David Letterman.
5. In the papers seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, attorneys refer to Jerry’s comments as “overstatements of opinion for comic effect” and argue that “no reasonable viewer could have thought that Seinfeld really meant that Lapine…might become an ‘assassin’ simply because she has three names.”

You must watch the video below. It’s a very powerful use of YouTube to call attention to a pop culture/law collision! An Arizona band, The Asphalt, asks us to consider whether a producer stole the hook from their song, “Tonight,” and used it in Chris Daughtry’s “Feels Like Tonight.”

Most impressive is what appears to be an absence of defamation. The band doesn’t accuse the producer of stealing. Instead, the video simply asks viewers/listeners to decide for themselves. As you do so, consider that the legal question includes whether the two works are “substantially similar.”

Yeah, it’s a crazy vague term, so do your best and let Popsquire know what you think!

Technorati Tags: asphalt, chris daughtry, copyright, defamation, law, lyrics, music, Plagiarism, pop culture, song

According to People, Avril Lavigne and the two songwriters who had accused her of plagiarizing their song have entered a confidential settlement agreement.  The songwriters released this statement:

“We are satisfied that any similarities between the two songs resulted from Avril and Luke’s use of certain common and widely used lyrics. We therefore completely exonerate Avril and Luke from any wrongdoing of any kind in connection with the claims made by us in our lawsuit.”
 

Popsquire’s perspective…

It is common for parties to a settlement agreement to negotiate the precise words that they will speak after all documents have been signed and money exchanged.

Popsquire wants to know if the songwriters received compensation in exchange for making this statement, but as Brittany Murphy famously said in “Don’t Say A Word,” Popsquire assumes they’ll never tell…

Technorati Tags: Avril Lavigne, james gangwer, law, Plagiarism, pop culture, settlement, tony dunbar