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Elisabeth Hasselbeck likely thought she was home-free when the judge in her copyright lawsuit threw out the case. But even at the time, he noted that it was only because plaintiff Susan Hassett’s (author of “Living with Celiac Disease”) lawyer hadn’t turned in required paperwork, thus he was dismissing it on a technicality. The judge also noted that, “while portions of Hassett’s dietary prose were definitely lifted for Hasselbeck’s book, the passages weren’t significant enough to warrant damages.” Which still leaves the door semi-open for a ferocious enough attorney to re-file the lawsuit, which is exactly what’s happened.
The woman who sued Elisabeth Hasselbeck for copyright infringement just won’t take no for an answer. TMZ has learned Susan Hassett just filed her second lawsuit over Hasselbeck’s book — “The G Free Diet” — even though a judge tossed out Hassett’s first suit earlier this month after her lawyer decided not to pursue the case.
Hassett — who claims Beck’s book is a rip-off of her own publication, “Living with Celiac Disease” — tells TMZ her original lawsuit was shot down because of a technicality … she failed to provide the necessary copyright information for “Living.”
Hassett’s new suit, which was filed today in federal court in Massachusetts, includes plenty of copyright info for “Living” … plus claims that Hasselbeck’s book is “misleading and dangerous” to those who suffer from Celiac disease.
Hassett once again wants the court to stop the presses on “G Free” and yank it from bookstores everywhere.
Calls to Hasselbeck’s people have not been returned.
[From TMZ]
What I find interesting about this case is that Hassett isn’t merely asking for punitive damages, she wants Hasselbeck’s book yanked from the shelves. If this were simply about money to her, I’d think she’d ask for a portion – or all of – the profits. Considering she says Hasselbeck’s book is actually dangerous to people with Celiac disease, wanting it off the shelves makes me think she legitimately cares about the information (or misinformation) that’s out there about the complicated chronic digestive issue.
Hassett’s “Living with Celiac Disease” isn’t ever going to make much money. She self-published the book, (and sent a copy to Hasselbeck, along with a personal note, after hearing her say on “The View” that she suffers from Celiac) and few people would ever have heard of it, were it not for Hasselbeck plagiarizing from it (here’s a breakdown of the nearly-identical parts of the books). She’d make a lot more money if she won a settlement that included letting Hasselbeck’s book stay on the shelves and gave her some of the profits. Considering that’s not what Hassett wants, if nothing else it shows that she actually cares about Celiac disease, whereas Hasselbeck seems to just care about putting her name on it.
Written by JayBird
Posted in Books, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Lawsuits
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24 Responses to “Elizabeth Hasselbeck sued again for plagiarism”
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OMG I love that she’s standing in front of a Breeder’s Cup sign!! ha ha ha
Major kudos to Hassett for caring more about the cause than the cash. Misinformation can ruin lives when it comes to serious conditions like celiac disease. I just begame a big fan of Susan Hassett.
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I don’t know about this second claim… how are there simultaneously “directly lifted” passages and information from an accurate source AND a bunch of misinformation? Is the book contradicting itself regularly? I would have expected THAT to be caught by an editor.
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Ugh i can see her tearing up already while Whoopi is trying to explain plagiarism to her. While she is screaming through tears that the “horrible liberal media” is just after her and her conservative sisters, tweedle dumb (palin) and tweedle dumber (prejean)
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Let’s face it. Who really believes she has an individual thought?
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i just hate her. I don’t have to have a reason. I just hate her. stupid elisabeth. she ruins my morning.
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team susan…
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Doncha LOVE how Prejean turned out to have numerous sex tapes??? Me thinks much of the conservative right doth protest FAR too much….
And Hassel-lhead there was defending Prejean
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Elizabeth’s ghostwriter is at fault, only Elizabeth doesn’t want to ‘fess up that she can’t write.
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Early on, national Celiac groups were issuing guarded opinions on Hasselbeck’s book saying there were inaccuracies. I am so glad that is part of this suit. Someone the other day was telling me how great the book was but as someone with Celiac, the last thing we need is misinformation out there attached to such a high profile name. It’s hard enough to get the average joe to understand the disease and different levels of sensitivity without someone adding to the mess while making money off of it.
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Poor Hassett! No good deed goes unpunished. She probably rues the day she sent that book to EH
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lol ashley… i hate her too!
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I would almost bet money that Elizabeth did not write this book. She is not intelligent enough to do the research nor would she have the time necessary to write a book on such a serious subject. This woman just needed a better lawyer to win her case.
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I don’t even know how she is on TV!
She is a waste of air time, dumb and narrowminded. Some of the most moronic, backstabbing sorts come from reality television shows. To go on a reality television show and compete -and be nasty and connive to do so is indicative of certain personality characteristics.
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Yeah! Keep hammering her with phony lawsuits until she’s penniless. She deserves it for not being a lefty like everyone is supposed to be.
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If Hasselbeck did, indeed, plagiarize let it be be shown and let her swiftly be held culpable. If she didn’t, well it won’t be long before she once again makes an ass of herself.
For two years I watched The View and I entertained ambiguous feelings about this woman. I didn’t want to hate her because she’s easy prey as the show’s punching bag conservative. Truthfully, the View is liberally -biased. She really has proven herself to be a twat, however.
It’s not only that she proselytizes; she arrogantly presupposes the same values for EVERYBODY from a narrow base of social experience. I doubt that she has had even the most marginal contact with people who are not american, wealthy, and white; but she knows better than you what’s right for you and will proceed to write your moral code with condescending absolutism. I hope everyone got the memo. It wasn’t Moses on Mt. Sinai. Nope, not at all. It was Elizabeth Hasselbeck. The Ten Commandments were really dispersed by her in her bottle blonde fury (parroting the word of God as her own, of course).
Her presumptuousness is asinine and insulting, and I think hers is a career that never should have made it past reality TV. I can understand if you feel passionate and stand your ground, but don’t toss your moral rectitude in people’s faces while you lack the adequte socio-cultural exposure to temper your arrogance. You have to admit, however, that the View would be considerably less interesting without its very own court jester.
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I hope Ms. Hassett wins her lawsuit. I’m with everyone else, I can’t stand Elisabeth Hasselbeck and don’t understand why she is famous. She is the reason I will never watch The View.
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It’s true that she doesn’t represent a conservative viewpoint as effectively as others could.
But that’s the reason she’s kept on the show. She’s easy prey, a perfect foil for the others.
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no, bob, she deserves it because she stole someone else’s work and passed it off as her own.
this isn’t about her political views, it’s about her being a thief.
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bob..Im with you.I know I will pay for this,but even though I see what people see as annoying about her,The View is liberal with mostly 1 conservative[other than Sherie,who seems to be in between sometimes]to defend all her beleifs.It is kinda unfair because in reality there are alot of conservatives who agree with her core beleifs.The whole world is not liberal,it just seems like it on the view.
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@ daisy, bob – Question: If I dislike someone because of HOW they make their opinions known, regardless of the actual opinion, am I just being a prejudiced lefty? Because there are Republicans I can and do respect. And there are Dems I really dislike, too.
I guess I didn’t think of it as a political thing. I thought that I was against Elizabeth’s interrupting and shouting and tendency to repeat Fox news headlines as fact. Politics is one thing; total disrespect and rudeness is another. They don’t HAVE to be mixed.
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so daisy, you think this whole lawsuit was brought on her because she’s not a liberal?
how f-cking out of touch ARE you conservatives?
I don’t agree with her political leanings but, AGAIN, this has ZERO to do with that.
If Michelle Obama had done the same thing…that is, steal someone else’s work and pass it off as her own…I’d think she deserves a lawsuit brought against HER, too.
lordy, you two probably cry like Hasselbeck when challenged on your viewpoint, too.
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Oh good grief! I would rather hang out with Megan Fox than have to suffer 10 minutes of squawking Elizabeth Hasselbeck. You know she more than likely stole this lady’s book. What a bitch. She could have just wrote the damn thing with her. Stupid.
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I agree with #18 – plagiarism is theft of intellectual property. If Elizabeth stole jewelry from a store, she’d be put in jail. Why is the theft of someone’s written work any less reprehensible? Go Ms. Hassett!
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I’m not 100% on this, but isn’t Hasselbeck ‘self-diagnosed’? All politics aside, that’s a huge red flag (if indeed I remember correctly). In day-to-day life self-diagnosis is one thing–not mine, but that’s not the point–but I hope that a person would not publish without a…you know where this sentence is going. I hope she didn’t, pray hard if she did.
@ViktoryGin: Really well said.
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