On food blog ethics
Much has been said in recent weeks about the ethics of food blogging, and the whole debate seems to have come to a head with Eater LA and it’s debacle in posting an anonymous tip that defamed downtown LA wine bar The Must. It starts here at Eater LA with the anonymous tip, then ends up here in a letter from the restaurant. And if that’s not enough, here’s a great story by Elina Shatkin of the LA Times that sums it up, with some commentary on the ethics of anonymous sources. So, are anonymous sources ethical?
That conversation is just one side of the multifaceted ethics debate. In another angle, people are wondering whether reviewing freebies or doing paid posts are Kosher. In this BusinessWeek story (mentioned in Shatkin’s piece), Douglas MacMillan writes that the FTC “wants bloggers to disclose when they’ve been wooed with cash or freebies from companies they cover.”
The notion of full disclosure is standard practice in journalism. And there are reasons for it. It’s the best way to combat bias, and it informs the reader of anything they may consider shady. I’m happy to see there are lines being drawn in the food blogosphere, and it will be interesting to see how it all ends up.
To help food bloggers along, there’s this fantastic code that was dreamed up by two fellow food bloggers. Then there’s the EGullet code of ethics.
Both of these codes are similar to the ethics codes of the Association of Food Journalists. This is the one I follow, but that’s not to say I don’t have a few things to learn as well.(Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for more.)
I wanted to learn more about recipe copyright, so I headed to the U.S. government copyright site. It was there that I realized that I’ve been infringing on copyright since the very day of this blog’s inception late last year. Originally, I was under the impression that recipes weren’t protected by copyright because there are a gazillion of them, and many instruct on the same dishes (how many times have you seen the exact same recipe for Margherita pizza?), and I assumed the recipes I created on my own were also held to this non-standard of copyright.
But in reality, it’s the recipe’s ingredient list that isn’t protected by copyright – the directions to the recipe are. And just having the words “adapted by” under the title of the recipe won’t cover your butt. (Whoops.)
From what I understand (and please correct me if I’m wrong), if you attribute the recipe source, link to it and re-word the directions, you are not infringing on any copyright. The ingredient list can remain the same, but it should be your own words in the recipe’s directions. And you must source the recipe. So this weekend, I’m going back through this blog to rewrite all of the recipe procedures that I’ve gotten from other sources. I’m a little sad that I’ve been semi-unethical in this sense, but it’s a nice wake-up call to remind me to keep my standards up. And it will keep my butt from being sued.
– Cynthia Furey
July 9th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Actually, the method directions are not copyright protectable either, unless the instructions are highly personalized or literary (constituting “substantial literary expression”). The reason is that recipes are considered “ideas” or “methods”. Copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. In the case of recipes, basic instructions are not protectable. There are only a few ways to say “saute an onion for 5 minutes”. This is why it is important when you write recipes to personalize the instructions if you can. It will make them more protectable. Also collections of recipes are protectable, as the collection, or vetting, is considered the author’s original expression. Citing the source is not a legal requirement, but an expected courtesy. That all said, it is a very good idea to rewrite any recipes you take from other sources in your own words. (How do I know all this? I retain 2 intellectual property attorneys.)
July 10th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Hello Elise! I agree, I think it would be a little hard to rewrite the directions of how to saute an onion without getting really flowery. It makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much for the tips! One can never get enough legal advice in this day and age.
July 10th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I’m not one to quibble with a recipe’s ’source’ as long as credit is given where credit is due. I also think that as long as you aren’t using someone’s recipe for personal gain, e.g. entering it in a contest and claiming it’s your own, then no harm no foul.
I DO take exception to the ‘anonymous’ source on eater.com spreading garbage around about people who are just trying to make a living. While I think in interest of basic journalism and the freedom of press, anonymous sources should be protected, when an anonymous source deliberately trashes a person’s ability to persue a livelihood, all bets are off. Shame on you. ‘anonymous’ source.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Hbgrrl: Agreed! A certain degree of responsibility goes hand in hand with food blogging. That said, I’ve rewritten most of the recipes I’ve gotten from other sources (save for the sentences that could not be reworded without sounding weird). Thanks for reading!
July 19th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Great post. Interesting stuff about recipe copyright. Thanks for teaching and sharing. Hope the re-writes weren’t too dreadful.
July 19th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
There are so many issues regarding the ethics of blogging (specifically, food blogs) about which I’m keen to learn. Some are relevant to me as a reader, such as credibility of a review that may or may not be biased due to certain gratuities and other special treatment by the service/product provider. Others strike me more as a writer, especially the issue of plagiarism. I am so disappointed to come across a blog whose content is cobbled together through cut-and-paste jobs from Wikipedia and other food-related sites, all without attribution.
What has surprised me the most is the rather heated opposition that these ‘codes of ethics’ have received. Instead of being viewed as guidelines, some believe that they impinge on their creative process. But I say that they protect that very same process by ensuring that original content is credited to the rightful source. I hope that ‘blogger ethics’ continues to be a topic at the forefront of discussion as blogging experiences the inevitable pains of growth.