Accusations of Plagiarism and the Blurred Lines of Recipe Originality
Nagi Maehashi, founder of RecipeTin Eats, has sparked a firestorm of debate by accusing fellow author Brooke Bellamy of plagiarizing her recipes in Bellamy’s bestselling cookbook, Baking with Brooki. The controversy has raised questions about the nature of recipe originality and the fine line between inspiration and plagiarism.
What Constitutes Originality in Cooking Instructions?
Cookbook author Adam Liaw, a former intellectual property lawyer, sheds light on the subject. “There’s the legal side and there’s what is accepted within any creative discipline,” he explains. “Copyright doesn’t protect the recipe itself, but rather the publication of the exact same written form of that recipe. None of the recipes written in the world would reach the standards necessary to obtain patent protection.”
Is Originality Possible in Baking Recipes?
Liaw is skeptical of unique recipe origin stories. “There is no Mr Bolognese in Bologna, everything is built on what came before. Food is a collective endeavour,” he argues. “There are millions of recipes out there, and if I am going to write the same thing as anybody else, there’s not much point in me doing it.”
Liaw’s Approach to Originality
Despite his doubts, Liaw emphasizes the importance of bringing something new to the table. “My job as recipe writer is to make it faster, cheaper, or use a new ingredient, something to make it my own,” he explains. To ensure originality, he avoids reading other authors’ cookbooks or looking at their recipes online. “You might not do it deliberately, but there is the danger of subconsciously encroaching on someone’s territory.”
Simon Davis’s Perspective
Simon Davis, food and lifestyle publisher at Hardie Grant, takes a different stance. “The onus is on publishers to ensure they are releasing original content,” he asserts. “We supply authors with guidelines not to replicate, we spot-check manuscripts against recipes on the internet, and there are lots of places during the editing process where a flag can be raised.”
Food presenter and cookbook author Alice Zaslavsky emphasizes the importance of crediting sources. “If someone copies the inspiration behind a recipe, that’s bad on so many levels,” she warns. Zaslavsky believes in bringing her own values and goals to a recipe. “Are we thinking about saving time, saving money? All those things inform the steps and the ingredients you include.”
Zaslavsky notes the challenges of being original in baking recipes. “It’s about precision: there are only so many ways you can bake a pound cake or an Anzac biscuit, but that doesn’t mean you can crib when you’re developing recipes,” she explains. She aims to bring her own values and goals to a recipe. “The recipes an author puts in a cookbook are deeply personal. They are not just about the steps, they are about the lived experience and the memories that bring the writer to that point. That is personal, it can only come – should only come – from you.”
In an age of limitless content, recipes are one way that people connect, pan-to-pan, spoon-to-spoon, heart-to-heart. The debate surrounding recipe originality highlights the importance of authenticity and transparency in the culinary world. As we navigate the blurred lines between inspiration and plagiarism, it’s essential to remember that originality is not just about the recipe itself, but about the story behind it – and the person who created it.
