Prominent Food Blogger Discovers Plagiarized Ebook

[jehane]

Originally Posted by Fringecup

Oh, boy! I've saved so many recipes that I got from other people, and I didn't note each donor's name. I'm sure my Grandma and hers before her did the same. Now if I wanted to publish a cookbook and used some of these hand-me-down recipes, would I REALLY be guilty of plagiarization?

If I went through Recipezaar and cut and pasted all of the recipes I liked and sold it as a cookbook under my own name and without revealing that I got the recipes from random strangers on the web, would you consider that plagiarism?

Originally Posted by Fringecup

Years ago, composers used to copy each others' works, make some changes to them and that was considered fine. Do we call someone a plagiarizor because he wrote a sonata based on a theme from Paganini? I think it's just extending knowledge by standing upon someone else's shoulders.

Variations on a Theme of Paganini 1) cites a source and 2) is an original piece of work that uses as its source of inspiration someone else's work. Rossini did not copy, note for note, Paganini's work, and fully acknowledges in the title of the work the source. From a legal viewpoint, copyright did not exist in those times so it's a moot issue. (Standard disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fringecup

Oh, boy! I've saved so many recipes that I got from other people, and I didn't note each donor's name. I'm sure my Grandma and hers before her did the same. Now if I wanted to publish a cookbook and used some of these hand-me-down recipes, would I REALLY be guilty of plagiarization?

Probably, yes. You can't just ignore copyright law when it's convenient for you to do so.

[elemenoP]

But Harry, you are ignoring the fact that recipes are not subject to copyright. If Fringecup wanted to publish those recipes, all Fringecup would have to do is rewrite the recipe directions. I'm not saying it's ethical to do that, but it would be legal.

eP

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

But Harry, you are ignoring the fact that recipes are not subject to copyright. If Fringecup wanted to publish those recipes, all Fringecup would have to do is rewrite the recipe directions. I'm not saying it's ethical to do that, but it would be legal.

eP

I suppose that one could conceivably patent a recipe .

But no, I agree with you, of course. If was the literal, unalterated, reproduction of the text that I was referring to.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

But Harry, you are ignoring the fact that recipes are not subject to copyright. If Fringecup wanted to publish those recipes, all Fringecup would have to do is rewrite the recipe directions.

Yes, the recipe as such, for simple meals that can be cooked at home, is not copyrightable. Yet.
But the exact text describing the preparation word-by-word is copyrightable. Especially if author adds explanation to the bare-bone list of instructions. Please read example above written by Elfwreck

[jgaiser]

From the source (U.S. Copyright Office) - http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html

Copyright law does not protect recipes that are mere listings of ingredients. Nor does it protect other mere listings of ingredients such as those found in formulas, compounds, or prescriptions. Copyright protection may, however, extend to substantial literary expression—a description, explanation, or illustration, for example—that accompanies a recipe or formula or to a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook.