June 12, 2006

Recipe Stealing....Are you Kidding!

Recently, I have had a few bloggers email and let me know that I have "taken" their recipes and placed them on my blog. Taken their recipes? I didn't know that recipes could be stolen from one cooking blog to another. But, they can apparently.

I've had some fellow bloggers tell me that their blog is copyrighted and I am breaking the law by taking recipes off their site. They tell me that other fellow cooking bloggers won’t appreciate it either.

Well I don't either, but I have found three of my grandmother's recipes on other sites. When I saw them I laughed...because somewhere a long time ago the recipe I thought that was my grandmother's probably was another kids grandmother's or great-grandmother's famous recipe too.

Now with the internet, recipes and information is passed to others so fast we don't have time to breath. And it will become worse in the future.

I explained to these bloggers that I would never intentionally take another's work of art recipe, but that when I am given recipes from readers (like you all) I have no knowing where it came from. Recipes are passed down to others daily, whether via email, at work, at school, even in our homes when our mothers, fathers, grandparents or family friends share their beloved recipes with us.

So, how do we stop this? You can't. If you don't want your recipe secret told or shared with others, then don't put it out there for print. As for me I love sharing recipes with everyone. I believe that is how we all become better cooks. A recipe is just a roadmap or set of guidelines to follow when cooking a recipe. When a recipe calls for 1 tsp of salt, I always add more. Does that make it my recipe, no, but I have changed the recipe. I never measure anything when I cook, why, because I might like more garlic, pepper, basil, whatever. We all change recipes to our liking.

To me the point of a cooking blog is to share recipes with one another. And that is exactly what I intend to do. I have received many wonderful emails today from many of you and I thank you.

This is the last comment and any attention that I will be giving this recipe stealing matter. I will say that when I receive a new recipe I will tell who I got it from always and I’ll take my mother’s great advice and vow to always keep thing on the Up and Up here at Home Cooking is What I Like.

So, let’s forget this matter and move on.

Happy Cooking Everyone!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

You go get them girl! I think some people have too much time on their hands and just want to ruin other's days.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what that one bloggers deal is...You always put where you go the recipe from or if it's from a friend. How the hell are you supposed to know where a recipe came from if it was given to you?

It's like saying you were the inventor of making a lemonade. Us here in CA love your blog...Keep it going on...

Anonymous said...

You go, Lane! These other people are crazy. Why would we buy cookbooks (that are copyrighted) if we aren't going to use the recipes in them and maybe pass them on to friends and family. Craziness! You responded the right way, and I love your blog!

Lane said...

Thanks Ginger! Well, some people are just worried their recipes are being taken. But when people start throwing around copyrighted info and no where on thier site does it say anythignis copyrighted, then that is a problem to me.

Thanks for all ya'lls support!

Jean said...

You explained that so well. I love reading your recipes. I THANK you for sharing them with the world. I agree, if people don't want others to know their "secrets", then don't share them. I think a common line in women (and men too), is "Hey...that was GOOD, can I have your recipe?". Thanks for explaining and moving on with sharing more of your yummy recipes :)

btw...i made the scrambeled egg recipe and it was TASTY!!! :) thank you for sharing it!

Lane said...

Thanks for the kind words Jean. There no use crying over spilled milk...let's all move on and enjoy sharing recipes and cooking.

PS Glad you liked to eggs, aren't they scrumpious....

Anonymous said...

You sure spelled that out right Lane. Man, people need to quit trying to find ways to ruin everyone else's good time.

You were much nicer than I would have been.

BRN2SELL said...

You GO Lane! When you start posting on the a blog all the recipes you are not posting so that people will start paying you money to USE your recipes ... you are posting because you are passionate about cooking and SHARING! Those that are saying they are copywrited as far as their blog is concerned are NUTS!

Personally, I have started blogging so that I can do a few things ... share recipes with everyone who asks much easier ... start to work on my writing style and abilities ... develop a following (much like yours) to shwo that I am a viable rescource for cooking ideas ... and finally to be able to create a cookbook for potential publishing ... in order to accomplish these things I will be GIVING AWAY ALL THE RECIPES ON MY BLOG at not charge ...

Sorry if I have gone on forever ... how dumb those other bloggers are!

Happy Cooking,
Mark

Lane said...

Mark, you are exactly correct. I'm glad so many of you are being supportive on this issue.

We are blog are recipes and cooking ideas to "share" them to add to are recieps files and to learn different techniques and tips from one another.

I can assure you that I will always be supportive when it comes to this matter.

Thanks Everyone!

Alanna Kellogg said...

Dont' fool yourself, there are copyright issues with recipes. Ingredient lists are not copyright-able but the recipe instructions are. If you copy the preparation instructions word for word (even if you cooked it differently), from a cookbook or someone's blog or a magazine, unless you have express permission to do so, you are, indeed, violating a copyright by appropriating someone else's property. If you copy photographs? Same.

Most food bloggers, including myself, often cook from other sources. It's a great part of the fun, to cook someone else's recipes, our grandmother's or otherwise, whether we do it verbatim (who does?:0- ... or with our own little/big additions and subtractions.
But we name and link to our sources. We never claim to have written something nor to pass it off as our own.

Lane said...

AK,

I appreciate your comments. I have a problem with people that try to say that a recipe on my site was theirs originally though. How in the world does anyone know that?

Also, my point to this post is if you want your photos and recipes copyrighted, then put something on your site that they are copyrighted.

And, if someone posts a recipe that is similar to yours, but has a few different ingredients and different instructions written...then it's their recipe.

I just have issues with anyone that says I stole their recipe, when in fact I had never been on their site before and the recipes were different.

If I was in the wrong I woudl admit it or try to make it better, but I'm not in this case!

Anonymous said...

OH no....here we go again. Hey AK are you friends with the Kalyn person?

Can't people drop this! Move on people!

Tamila Harris said...

Here's how you can invent or come up with a new recipe and why a lot of major companys of food items will not give there recipe because yes they don't won't you to know and they feel they could loss money if you did.

Now here is why other blogger trip; because onces you under basic of cooking you can create your own recipe.

For example: There is a basic muffin repcipe that just plan you can add anything to it onces you undersand the muffin method than you can make as many muffin recipe as you want.

This is coming from a someone who has been through a culinary program, and who has all kinds of ideals and is thinking about putting her recipe on one of her site and can see were those bloggers are coming from.

I if your going to do post recipe from other blogger give them credit and also put them in you links or put a link from you blog to theirs.

I can see your point that recipe are road map, but I think that if your making them.