Blogging etiquette

[greenmansions]

So a close friend of my neighbor keeps a food blog. I gave my neighbor an old family recipe, and she apparently passed it onto her blogging friend who posted it on her blog. She states it's a family recipe from a generous neighbor, but that's it.

I am feeling peeved about this and feel I should have been asked if it was OK to post my recipe. (The blogger knows it is from me.)

Am I wrong to be upset? Is there anything I can say or do about the posting, and prevent that from happening in the future?

[texmati]

ooh... I dunno, but I feel you definitely should have been asked.

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by greenmansions

Is there anything I can say or do about the posting, and prevent that from happening in the future?

Don't give out family recipes

What's done is done. Sit back and think of how many people will enjoy the delicious food they will make with the recipes you provided

[SoulCakes]

Yes and no.

I'd be more than a little peeved if someone knowingly posted my recipe on the internet. That's a fact. What's debatable is whether recipes are artistic products like poetry, photographs, or short stories. They can easily be shared, but should they be?

Personally, I would never share someone's recipe publicly--it seems like a breach of etiquette. But if she has no misgivings, I would just decline to share recipes with my neighbors in the future. Bad blogging karma comes around.

In the meantime, try to focus on the silver lining: it's obviously a good recipe.

[greenmansions]

Thanks for all the replies. I feel like this is my "intellectual property" and now I can't do anything with it should I choose to. I have looked into submitting several of my recipes for publication in a magazine in one of the "readers' recipe" columns, but one of the stipulations is no prior publication. So does this count as publication? It's one where if they use your recipe you get a prize of some sort - sometimes it's cash, sometimes it's stuff.

My neighbor and I have swapped a number of recipes and I guess I will have to stop, though she already has many of my good ones. My mom and grandma were amazing cooks.

Can I ask her not publish my recipes without permission? What is the legality here re copyright etc? Her husband is a lawyer so I wonder if she has info that says she can do it.

It's ticking me off even more because our block party is tomorrow and I was going to take a specific salad, and now I found out my neighbor is bringing that same salad. My recipe. Maybe my recipe etiquette is too rigid, but I never prepare someone else's recipe for a function where that person will be there. Grrrr.

[limette]

The copyright is on the instructions not the ingredients.

Here's an article on it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...010300316.html

[Katie T]

I personally wouldn't be horribly upset for one reason, when you are a great cook and have made a recipe hundreds of times it just comes out better.

I would be upset if you can't send it in to a readers recipes contest.

You may have to write to the magazine and see, I don't think a blog counts as a publication but I guess it may depends on how many people read/follow it.

[greenmansions]

Well I emailed her and asked that she not publish my recipes without permission. We'll see what happens there. I do not care to cause a rift with our mutual friend or anything, but I am peeved and I felt I needed to say something. She may just blow me off, but at least she'll know.

In the meantime I am starting a blog and publishing my own recipes so that I at least "own" them. Blogger states that the material published on there is copyrighted to the writer of the blog, so by that standard she has published the recipe and it is hers.

[Oriole]

I would probably ask her kindly to take it down, stating that you are planning to submit your recipes to magazines, and they don't want the recipes to be published, etc.

[liliaceae]

I think it's good that you emailed her, and you should just refrain from sharing recipes in the future.

[Turquesa]

Hope this helps:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html

Just let us know where you're blogging.

[alicia622]

well, now I'm curious to know what was the recipe!

[neveryoumindthere]

me too!

[oceanbaby]

Yeah, I want the link to your blog! I promise, I'll never bring one of your dishes to a function you are attending.

[zinemama]

I wouldn't ask her to take it down. I'd look at this as a good opportunity to publicize your own blog. Ask the blogger to revise her post, crediting you by name and linking to your blog. This sort of thing is done all the time.

[MusicianDad]

I would point out that you didn't give permission for it to be posted and ask nicely for it to be taken down.

I get really peeved when people try to pass off one of my recipes as there's. I work hard to make my recipes unique with my own personal touch. I have no trouble with people borrowing one, but to claim some sort of credit for the recipe itself is very poor form and can't guarantee a polite response from me.

[greenmansions]

As I mentioned a few posts back, I emailed her and asked for her not to use my recipes without permission from me. I told her I was upset that she did so because it limits my ability to use my recipes as I like.

This morning there was a very apologetic email from her and she took it down.

So all is good and turned out as well as it could have.

I have started a blog and have been typing up the recipes. But I have to make each one to get a nice photo and that will take awhile as some use seasonal ingredients and I'll have to wait. I'll link when I have a few up there.

Thanks y'all for your support. And I'm totally with you Musician Dad. That is how I feel about it.