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.
Todd says
This is very interesting. I had no idea that recipes are not copyrightable. If I discuss a certain recipe on my blog I will most definitely give credit to the source.
However, I do often times look at a recipe and make a few changes or a lot of changes. If I do this I feel it is not necessary to give credit. But, I still might – it just depends on how much I change it.
Also, some recipes are so common that it is not necessary to give credit. An example is the strawberry-banana smoothie. There are thousands of versions of this thing. If you find one, try it, like it, and simply change something about it, then I feel as if there is no reason to give credit.
I guess its just up to the person. But, like I said, if I talk about a specific recipe that I did not change, then I will give credit to where I got it :)
Elizabeth says
What a shame! Who knows if you ever will get deserved credit here, but I agree you certainly should have! I have written the company at the above linked address to politely but clearly tell them I think there are better ways they could have gone about it. Legal doesn’t always mean fair, and I agree with the many others who have said that both yourself and the company could have benefited from crediting you.
And thankyou for keeping such an amazing and beautifully presented archive of excellent recipes. I’m in Australia and have had some trouble finding your book for purchase here, but I am often on your site and use your recipes for cooking meals for my family. You’re truly an asset to not only those of us with food intolerances but the foodie and slow food cooking communities at large.
It can be so disheartening, and so defeating, at times, to have diet restrictions, and even more so when we are treated by websites, or restaurant staff, or food companies, as though we are “just fussy eaters” or troublemakers. There is a general (uneducated) stigma attached to food intolerances; and I often find myself feeling disrespected, sometimes even ashamed, by cafe staff or grocery store owners as I ask questions, or scan labels. But not here. Never here. Here I feel understood, I feel valued, and I feel “normal”. You have successfully built a website which I feel respects me, and all your visitors, as competent and enthusiastic home cooks even though we might not be able to use common ingredients; and more importantly, I feel respected as an equal. You are all the mums, dads, grandmothers and aunts that we intolerance sufferers wish we had on hand to offer advice on what to make for dinner, or how to keep the kids interested. And even though the corporation would chew you up and spit you out don’t forget how valued your work is. I, for one, am really, really grateful. I’m positive I’m not the only one!
Jessica says
Oh, please don’t take your recipes down, I love and depend on them. I’d start a facebook group, something like “we are boycotting whatever corporation until they give credit where credit is due” and post it on your blog. Check out this one: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=335606723728 It brought a lot of attention and embarrassment to the manager of the theater after he acted inappropriately.
aziza says
They are trying to sell their healthy products with stolen recipe!! That is SO unethical. Healthy and steeling don’t go along
Elana, please don’t stop posting your recipes just because of some thieves?I hope the rotten apple will not ruin the nice smell of all the good apples.
Any recipe has “Agave”, grape seed oil” and “almond flour” just reminds me of you. I can see your name.
Joey says
What a rude way for this company to tell you that they can take your recipes any time they want. It wouldn’t have killed them to give you credit for your recipe. Welcome to the world of corporatism.
Amber S says
Interesting I should read this today since I just made your pancakes this morning for the first time. I used your recipe in your book which I bought last month. The recipe in your book says to combine all ingredients in a blender – so really – they took your EXACT recipe from your book. Shouldn’t that give you SOME copyright protection?
Eve says
I wonder if a recipe that is published in a cookbook is protected by copyright laws?
Is it a matter of publishing it on the internet—a whole new set of copyright questions?
Ricki says
A year or so ago, a lawsuit was launched by a chef in New York whose worker left and started his own restaurant. . . using her recipes. She sued citing the equivalent of plagiarism, since the recipes were “hers.” Sadly, she lost in court, because recipes aren’t copyrightable. That said, and as others have mentioned, it was really low of that company not to give credit if they were, indeed, using your recipe. As a blogger, I assume people will use my recipes–they are in the public domain, after all–but I hope that they will give proper attribution if they use them or post them!
Keri says
Elana – I haven’t read the other posts/comments so I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned. But as a blogger who isn’t creative enough it the kitchen (just yet) to come up with my own concotions, I almost always re-post repices I’ve found in books or on other blog sites.
To make sure that I was doing this correctly, I did a search and found this site…. This site states that “no” the recipe itself isn’t copyrightable, but the directions are. Think it’s worth a read.
http://foodblogalliance.com/2009/04/recipe-attribution.php
Thanks for everything you do, and the recipes you post – they are lifesavers!! (as a note: I always give credit – even if it inspired something I was able to come up with on my own).
Keri
Kelly says
In a way…way to go! What is that saying about imitation being a compliment? ;)