Lutz v. De Laurentiis

ROTH, P. J., Concurring and Dissenting.

I concur in the court’s decision that in this case there can be but one cause of action, for unfair competition. I would, however, also uphold the trial court’s determination that plaintiffs cannot, as a matter of law, allege a secondary meaning.

By this action the Lutzes, despite having been unsuccessful in earlier attempts to establish that anyone who writes about Amityville invades their privacy and misappropriates their right of publicity,1 and despite having surrendered to defendants’ predecessors an interest in the copyright in the book written by…