Seinfeld Case Thrown Out

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/06/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Jerry Seinfeld has reason to laugh this weekend. On Thursday a Manhattan appeals court, in a 5-0 decision, ruled that a Long Island man's $100 million lawsuit against the comic and his TV producers should be dismissed. At issue was whether or not the man -- whose name is Michael Costanza -- had his privacy rights violated when Seinfeld and company created the character George Costanza on the "Seinfeld" sitcom. Costanza, 43, a real estate agent, claimed that he and Seinfeld, 46, had been friends at Queens College and that the loutish behavior of George (played by Jason Alexander) was, in part, based on him, reports the Associated Press. Essentially, the court said nadda nadda nadda.