Comments on: Could your recipe posts be considered 'piracy'?

By: Deena

Deena — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:17:01 +0000

Great article! From my perspective, I'm actually flattered when I find my recipes are liked enough to be included in quality, informative blogs. But of course, proper credit is expected. Matt is absolutely correct when he wrote about "authors and publishers having Google alerts in place…". My company uses them often.

By: Cheddar Biscuits | missaliisa

Cheddar Biscuits | missaliisa — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 01:33:44 +0000

[...] I want to post this recipe so badly!! But it didn't seem right to me that Todd Wilbur writes these amazing recipes, and others post them online for all to see. If you care to know what I'm talking about, follow this link: Could your recipe posts be considered 'piracy'? [...]

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:12:59 +0000

Yea I am guilty of this. I always try to say "adapted" but sometimes I just copy word for word. I do link whenever I can though. I will definitely have to start emailing authors! thanks for the tips .-= Erin´s last blog ..CONTEST GIVEAWAY! THE MAGIC BULLET! =-.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 03:52:29 +0000

Wow! I think the post is great, and the variety of responses are also great, for both view points. I do believe that most basic recipes would be impossible to prove who truly has ownership. It can be very easy to come up with your own version only to find out it is much like others posted. That doesn't mean you have stolen the idea. However, there are some recipes that are obviously originated by others, and credit should be given to them. As for changing up ingredients, it can go either way. I think people have to be realistic, sensitive, honest, and reasonable when posting recipes – original, borrowed, rewritten, "stolen", or shared…and do their best to present the recipe in the most appropriate way under the circumstances. It's a tough call! I personally have seen the same basic recipes for raw foodist in almost every raw food book I have (at least 50 books, ebook and paperback) that have the same recipes, with maybe a different name, slightly different ingredient list, or prep procedure — but seriously all the same. I'm not excluded from that. Maybe it boils down to "presentation" – it can be everything?!

By: Marissa

Marissa — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:20:00 +0000

I completely disagree with you. Recipes are rarely if ever original. It is nearly impossible 9to the point where I would actually say impossible) to prove that someone was the FIRST to ever come up with a specific recipe. This is why recipes are NOT copyrightable. The only thing you can copyright is the DIRECTIONS for using the list of ingredients. Recipes are based on the ideas of others, they are rarely if ever original. And even if they are, prove that the recipe has never been done before. People have their panties in a bunch over this and it is JUST COOKING. It isn't rocket science, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out a recipe.

By: NoMeatAthlete

NoMeatAthlete — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:08:50 +0000

Amanda, I believe that book reviews are totally fine. Not sure how much content you could post from a book without permission, but surely you can mention the title of a book and review it. I've wondered about the cover thing too. It would be very weird for an author to get upset that you posted the cover image of their book, and many welcome any reviews at all, even if they're not good. Wish I had a better answer on this one.

By: NoMeatAthlete

NoMeatAthlete — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:04:01 +0000

Aaron, that's very strange that they wouldn't get back to you. Yeah; I think simply reprinting a recipe and linking isn't enough from a legal standpoint, since it's copyrighted material. But in many cases, authors might not mind as long as you link. I prefer to play it safe and get permission.

By: Aaron Van Gossen

Aaron Van Gossen — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:28:19 +0000

I'm so glad I found this article. I did e-mail one person about getting permission but they never got back to me. I'm not sure if that means 'yes' 'no' or 'Hell No'. I've been giving credit to where I got my recipes along with Amazon or website links to where their books can be found hoping that was enough, but I guess not. I'll make more of an effort to get in touch with the author's from now on.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:47:01 +0000

Thanks for the advice, Matt; awesome stuff! What do you think about book reviews? Can you post a review without getting permission? What about a picture of the cover?

Thanks in advance.
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..On Prep (Not the School) =-.

By: Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga)

Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:30:05 +0000

Matt, awesome post and one of my readers told me about this post and I have you in my googlereader and admit I saw this post, skimmed it and meant to come back to it forgot to. I just posted about this same phenomenon today, which is how a reader told me about this post

Here's my post, the hot topic is at the bottom of the entry if you care to read my thoughts. I totally think your post is right on target and i addressed the blogger "but I tweaked it to make it my own" line of thought. i.e. omitting 2 tbsp of chia seeds in a 17 ingredient recipe is NOT making it your own kids
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/03/snacks-clothes-hot-topic-friday.html
.-= Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga)´s last blog ..Snacks, Clothes, & Hot Topic Friday: Crediting Recipes =-.