Did you know that recipes are not copyrightable? It is very challenging to copyright a recipe. That said, I have found that 99.99% of food bloggers and others in the industry give credit where it is due. On that note, I especially enjoy Lillian’s interpretation of my recipes via video on her site Lillian’s Test Kitchen. And kudos go to all the other bloggers out there doing what Lillian does day in and day out.
Unfortunately, sometimes things can go awry when it comes to recipe usage. And here’s an example of that. A couple of months ago, I received a comment from one of my readers regarding a recipe for gluten free pancakes on my website.
Oh, one odd thing… I used a brand of almond flour that I found at a local health food store called Dowd & Rogers and they had the exact same pancake recipe printed on the back of the bag. The only difference is that they said to mix in a blender (instead of saying the Vitamix brand). Not sure if it means anything but thought Elana may want to know…
That was a message from katie h, one of my readers, and I didn’t take it too seriously. However, weeks later, when I compared the two recipes I could see right away what she was talking about.
2 large eggs
¼ cup agave
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup water
1 ½ cups almond flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
grapeseed oil for sautéing
- In a vitamix, combine eggs, agave, vanilla and water and blend on high until smooth
- Add almond flour, salt and baking soda and blend again to incorporate dry ingredients into batter
- Warm grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium heat
- Pour pancake batter onto skillet
- Pancakes will form little bubbles, when bubbles open, flip pancakes over and cook other side
- Remove from heat to a plate
- Repeat process with remaining batter, adding more oil to skillet as needed
* The funniest part of all this is that this isn’t my best pancake recipe
So, I contacted the parent company, the Neutraceutical Corporation of Dowd & Rogers and this is what I was told:
The law regarding copyrightability of food recipes is very clear: recipes are not copyrightable… In short, your letter alleging copyright protection in a recipe is completely meritless.
This legalese seems to be saying that Dowd & Rogers and their parent company the Neutraceutical Corporation can use as many of my (and your) recipes as they like to sell their products. And that they do not need to give any of us credit.
I have more than 350 recipes on this site and after receiving a letter such as the above start to wonder which one Dowd & Rogers will help themselves to next.
I’m not a lawyer, however, something seems amiss here. Wonder if any of you have run into this as well.
Heidi says
How about we just not buy their product then hmmm? Sounds like a plan.
Cathy says
I just wanted to say thank you for all you do. Being confused with multiple food sensitivities and hungry…I look for simple recipes with few ingredients and yours are always so good and easier then most.
My hat is off to you and I really hope you keep posting them on your website.
What goes around,comes around…
Mom says
My experience with a Texas grocery chain was much better than that. They were very professional and I received a check before their monthly publication even went to press. Your readers greatly appreciate the total package of what you share here on this blog; recipes, tips, and encouragement. That response from the Neutraceutical Corporation was sleazy.
Kailey & Sam says
Hey Elana,
Firstly, this is complete and utter…well…fill in the blank. This really angers me because this recipe is your language that you use in every single recipe you post on here, and they would have had more of a technical corporate way of saying it. Anyways, I got my boyfriend in on the news, and he is just as upset because we both love your site, and we spent some time researching about copyrighting recipes, and items you post online. Here’s what he came up with: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html
From the way it reads typically the INGREDIENTS in a recipe aren’t copyrightable, but when instructions are added then the combination of the two makes them able for copyrighting. SO if this is helpful and you can prove you posted this recipe with your own words before the company ever printed that recipe on their product, then maybe a lawyer could help prove a case.
Either way this is wrong in so many ways in my opinion, because if you took their recipe and changed only a few words, and didn’t give them credit (making it seem as if it was your recipe) I could see them being upset and angry, and possibly saying they’d take action if you didn’t give them credit. @@
On another note, this recipe looks GREAT!! And I’m really excited to try it out!! :)
I get that it’s hard to do (copyrighting things like recipes), but hopefully in the future people will be able to have ownership over their items, and be able to have protection against larger companies.
Keep doing what you’re doing…we all LOVE your site!!
Cooking With Dia says
I just wrote out a very long comment, and it somehow disappeared. The main thing I said was, this has happened to me. A very popular UK magazine copied my recipes almost word for word, but because they changed “chili pepper” to “hot pepper” the copyright law does not apply.
To me, this demoralizes writing. A lot of thought does go into writing a recipe for those with dietary restrictions, believe it or not, and to have someone cut and paste it on another blog or magazine and even worse on the back of a food product, is a disgrace. I know why they don’t give credit, it is embarrassing to them that they couldn’t think of the recipe themselves! Hang in there, and I hope you can sort it!
Stephanie says
Elana, I’m a huge fan of your site/book. I love the way you’ve created recipes that WORK! I personally am always careful to give credit where it’s due. I’ve also had 2 relatives buy your book thanks to the delicious food I’ve created :)
It’s too bad about this response. I have bought products from this company quite frequently, and really like it. I think they could have dealt with this more tactfully. I don’t think it will prevent me from buying their products in the future, but I would hope that they’d be willing to fess up to what they did.
Michele | aka Raw Juice Girl says
Wow, this is terrible – and it’s a hot topic. My friend, Averie, just blogged about this very thing:
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/03/snacks-clothes-hot-topic-friday.html
So sorry this happened to you! It’s definitely wrong. :-(
Hugs,
Michele
Tanya says
Wow…..that’s incredible that they did that…worse was their response to you. You’ve got a great site with great recipes and I hope this won’t prevent you from putting your recipes online. I don’t have enough experience that anyone would take my recipes, I’m sure….here’s a link to an interesting article I read on this very topic:
http://foodblogalliance.com/2009/04/recipe-attribution.php
Debbie says
http://www.whatiscopyright.org/
Check this site out. Has a lot of interesting information.
Theresa says
Elana,
What loss would it be to them to give credit to you? Imagine receiving that response back. Doesn’t bode well for the company; you have an incredible dedicated following that is now aware of how this company responded to you. Wonder how many will purchase or continue to purchase their flour? Hmmmm….
christina says
I think that really the comany loses by not giving you credit. If you were credited, and someone bought your cookbook as a result (I’ve done that before)they would likely buy more of the product to use with your cookbook. I don’t publish your recipes, but I do give you lots of credit when people taste the wonderful recipes I make from your book! Thanks for all you do.