There is a new, damaging trend going on. Facebook pages are popping up claiming to be “recipe sharing” sites. These sites post photographs and full recipes, or photographs with all the step-by-steps shown, multiple times daily. These pages are garnering tens of thousands of “likes,” in some cases hundreds of thousands, even over a million, in a matter of weeks. Readers extol the virtues of the site. “I LOVE your page!” over and over again. They ask questions about the recipes. The page owners answer them cheerily. They share! They love it! Yay community!! Everybody is awesome! The only problem is, these photos and recipes are stolen from food blogs without credit. We who create these recipes and how-tos, who spend hours and days and weeks creating and writing and photographing one post, are having our work taken in seconds. We celebrate reaching 5,000 or 10,000 Likes on our pages for the work we create over years. They get 100K in a week. From our work. But the trend gets worse.
When we, individually or a group, approach these facebook pages, we are met with hostility, anger, and threats.
COPYRIGHT LAW SAYS WE ARE ON THE SIDE OF RIGHT
The law is the law. “Free and fair use” is grossly misinterpreted.
- • When an individual creates a blog post or photograph, that work is protected by copyright law.
- • NO, you don’t need the little © symbol.
- • It’s not “free” to the world if it’s on the internet. It’s automatically protected, just as a passage in a book.
- • Which means you can’t post it on your page, pin it, share it, anything without permission.
However, we post our work TO be shared, and we need our work shared to get visitors to our site, so for this reason, it’s generally accepted and actually encouraged that you share a photo (ONE) from our post with a link to the post and credit given. And pinning is OK, just pin to our page. Generally. Some bloggers don’t even like you to do this, so when in doubt, ask. But I am fine with it. Where it used to be a good thing to be featured, I have faced more and more resistance over at my other site, Edible Crafts, where I search the internet for food crafts, post a photo and link to the original source. Before Pinning and facebook pages, sharing like this was how your site got traffic. Now, with the rampant stealing and violations, it’s much more touchy, understandably. As a result, I rely heavily on submitted work, so there’s no question. A fabulous and easy-to-read article on the ins and outs of copyright law can be found HERE at the Costco Connection.
Why do we have this pesky copyright law? To help those of us that create content.
There’s a reason it’s the law. We work our tushies off to come up with ideas and execute them. We are creating all these lovely ideas you keep pinning and sharing. We want our credit. We want your visits. This is not all about ego. OK, it’s a little about ego. Say you come up with a great idea. Someone takes that idea. That someone then gets raves and accolades for your idea. Pretty much every human I know would be miffed by this. It hurts. It hurts a lot. We make very little income, we bloggers, and we rely on traffic to our sites for said little income. Bloggers are being wronged, our livelihood is threatened. If you share my entire blog post on your site, no one will visit mine! Why would they? It blows my mind when I approach someone for stealing my photograph or blog post and kindly request they link or remove it, and they respond not with apologies and correction, but with… crazy hostility.
THE CYBER-BULLYING: What’s happening
The bullying begins. Here’s a scenario. I see my melting snowman cookie, or bluebird brownie pops or Frankenstein marshmallow pops on someone’s facebook page. With all the how-tos to make them. And no link to me or credit at all. This page has 200K Likes. My photo gets a jillion shares and raves on their site. I get zero. I publicly request to the page owner that they remove the instructions and add a link to my blog. Oh, and thank you for sharing. Then I get screamed at, yelled at, threatened. They tell their readers how horrible I am for not wanting to share my work. They are the victims. We bloggers are attacking them all in the sake of not wanting to “share.”
Thunk. My head hits the wall.
We WANT our work shared! We just want our work shared legally and ethically, not to make these pages money or to build their egos. These page owners shout from the top of their pages, angrily, “I never SAID I owned all these photos! I’m here to share.”
Thunk. My head hits the wall. Again.
We aren’t just angry about the implication these are yours. We’re angry because you’re using our photographs! Please share them. Please, we say, just share nicely.
But, they claim, it’s FREE! I found it on the internet! I didn’t even know the source!
It’s NOT “free.” A quick google search will give you the source, and if you don’t know the source, don’t post it.
And then… they are mean. Just plain mean.
Here are some very mild, personal examples, none of which compare to what my food blogging pals have endured, but it will give you a sense of the dynamic.
EXAMPLE 1. I commented on my own photo and blog post illegally reprinted on someone’s facebook page. I requested credit be given and the instructions removed. Let me note here, I have the law on my side. I could have reported the page and had it removed before my warning. I thought I was being kind in not having the whole page taken down, considering my work was just one of hundreds being taken. This is the post I got on my own facebook page in response. It’s since been deleted by the author, but I took a screen shot.
EXAMPLE 2. Someone informed me about a site selling decorating cookies. All well and good. The only problem is, she uses other cookie decorators’ photographs to sell her own. This happens to me often. My photographs are used on facebook, etsy stores and online shops to sell other people’s cookies. Sheesh, think of the poor customers ordering cookies with no real idea of what they will get in the mail. I confronted her, informed her that using photos that aren’t her own is a violation of copyright. I received this threat:
“Anybody can make cookies like that. That’s not your design. Stop emailing me before I file a complaint against you.”
um, yeeeah, but that’s my photo.
EXAMPLE 3. A woman solicited me before Sugarlicious hit the shelves. She requested a free copy of my book in exchange for a “favorable review on amazon” and she promised “I won’t be disappointed.” I ignored this, of course. Hello, blackmail. She responded to my silence by plastering my amazon page with 2-star reviews. This one hurt more than all of the above combined. I cried for a whole day. OK, two days. OK, a year later, I still get sad about that.
WAY WORSE EXAMPLES. This facebook recipe page phenomenon hits my food blogging friends more than it hits me, as I have primarily decorating how-tos on my site, not recipes. I’m horrified by the comments and threats they’ve received and the wars they have been fighting. Upon confrontation, these facebook page owners decry their plight to their hundreds of thousands of readers, that they can no longer share recipes (yes, you can, just legally), and all they want to do is share with the world. Why is that so wrong?! They are being “attacked” for their goodwill, they say. Their pages may even be removed! Gasp! Their readers respond with overwhelming support for the wrongdoers.
A very short list of the names we bloggers have been called:
b*tch
stupid
ignorant
cruel
haters
c*nt
f*cking idiots
trolls
vicious attackers
jealous
evil vultures
One facebook page owner urged her readers to leave hate messages on a fellow food blogger’s site.
Another threatened the life of a food blogger I know.
Another threatened the child of a food blogger I know.
It took me about 30 seconds to find some examples. These are comments copied and pasted–and not edited–from just ONE of the offending pages against us for daring to raise the copyright violations:
“Some people are not happy unless they are bitching, it’s alright for them but not you so F them and the horse they rode in on.”
“Oh PLEASE put a spell on all those crazy complainers!!! I love your page and your recipes and if I had a voo doo doll that looked like those haters….I would poke them every time I could!!!!! LOL!!!!”
“For the people who is (sic) complaining of copyright act, remember your recipes are being used by many and that should make u proud.”
(Um, it would make me prouder if you knew it came from me.)
“Do your research, there is NO SUCH THING as a copyright on a recipe.”
(When you copy the instructions and the photograph, yes there is.)
“Hang in there…you are sharing recipes, not revealing state secrets………you have done nothing wrong.”
(yes, you have)
“Wow there are some nasty people all over facebook, because its not face to face confrontation they get very bold and even nastier. Be strong, block the negative nasties and carry on!”
(hmmm, what a good idea)
WHAT YOU CAN DO
When you happen upon a facebook page posting nothing but photos and recipes with no sources listed, I WANT to tell you to leave a comment telling the page owners that they must link to their sources. But I won’t tell you to do that. Because then you will be bullied, too, no matter how kindly you ask. Instead, I ask that when you come across a recipe printed on a facebook page, and there is an accompanying photograph, and this photograph is not credited, PLEASE leave the page. Please don’t “like” this page. And please don’t revisit it.
WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE THE BLOGGERS?
I have been creating content for my blog for four and a half years. In that time, I’ve been called a bad mother, a snob, uncreative, and lame. I have a pretty thick skin. I could always take it, given those comments were so few and far between, and my fellow bloggers and the vast majority of my readers are wonderfully supportive and nice. But this trend of late, of the massive amounts of anger and hatred in response to righteousness that I’m seeing out there is making me question the world at large. I am losing my will to get on my computer, let alone continue blogging.
I don’t seek out my work being violated, though I respond when my keen-eyed readers send me the links. It is simply impossible to contain the harm anymore. There are too many sites that have stolen my work, my friends’ work. It sucks more and more from me when I see this kind of negative behavior. By the way, I used to quote literature, and now I quote TV. The other night, watching Alias (I know, I’m behind, catching up on Neflix), Vaughn warned Sydney not to let the “darkness swallow you”. Of course he was talking about evil international organizations threatening to take over humankind as we know it, not cyber bullies, but the phrase stuck with me.
So “Where does that leave the bloggers?” I don’t know. I turn that question to you, dear readers. I’m not sure what to do anymore. Do I continue? Do I stop? What do you, as a reader, see going on out there? How do you feel about all this craziness? I need some hope here, folks, but I’ll take whatever truths you have…
And thank you for listening!!
PS. Did you like my “bandit” up there? 🙂
MORE TO READ
As if I didn’t wax on long enough… here are some must-read blog posts on this subject.
What Every Facebook User Needs to Know, by Amanda of i am baker.
Copyright-issues-and-why-they-cause-a-lot-of-drama-mama-its-all-about-r-e-s-p-e-c-t-and-props-lots-of-props, by Jasmin of 1 Fine Cookie.
Food Bloggers Fight Firestorm of Abusive Facebook Pages, by Susan of Rawmazing.
Kathia says
I am sending you a virtual hug and kiss, you couldn’t have said it better.I have seeing and experimented how mean people are, how rude and heartless they can become just because they are behind a screen. I have seeing pictures of my friend’s post ( including yours) all over, I have commented and I also have been screem at.
I have been called a bad mother, fat, ignorant,cheap and I only post pictures of cakes I make!!
I love your blog and every single idea you come up with. You certainly bring a lot of joy to us with your post.
It is really hard to please people/readers, so we have to focus in the positive and the good and enjoy what we do.
victoria says
You work hard! Your ideas are intellectual property. I know you are not trying to be rightous or braggy, rather share the talent you have to inspire and delight (I have been by your stuff and others). The trend on the internet is the trend of people: selfish. You have every right to ask for credit. It is stealing from you. I am sure you blog as a hobby and second income (it’s the little that adds up).The ignorant would say “oops, sorry”. The defensive, say it’s fair game….until it happens to them. Honesty. It really is lacking in this world. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! I always love to see what you find (craft gossip) and create (here).
Jill @ KitchenFunWithMy3Sons says
Great post Meaghan! It’s getting to be ridiculous! It also makes you just so upset to have to take the time to go after these people that do not credit. Like any of us have time for this!
Beth (Hungry Happenings) pointed out to me that both of our pictures & text were being sold in a book on Amazon with no credit! Are you kidding me! Luckily someone did something to get Amazon to take it down. I have ranted to you before about this very same thing and also get just as fired up when we see our blogging buddies getting their creations stolen.
It’s sad that we as creators have to feel like we need our own personal lawyers to deal with these people when we make so little to begin with!
Will have to share this!
Candy says
Love your blog… So sorry you are having to deal with such tacky people
Heather Stegner says
I had no idea my favorite bloggers are going through this. Thank you for sharing. You are right; your work-time spent away from your family, late hours alone in the night and the creativity it takes to come up with new ideas should always be credited to you! Even when I pin on Pinterest, I go directly to the bloggers link to make sure they get props for their work. I am not a blogger, but a baker. I have had “friends” make almost duplicates of cakes that I’ve posted the day before on FB copied and posted like its theirs. It hurt my feelings so much-I can’t imagine what you’re all going through! You have a right to protect and defend your work! Also, whatever happened to people saying, “sorry, I had no idea…I’ll remove it right away…” What’s with the nasty name calling? People have no respect for anyone anymore!!! Geez! It’s your ideas that inspire the rest of us to do more. We should be thankful! I know I am! Don’t give up!!!!
Whisked Away Cookies says
Meaghan, you are completely and totally 100% correct across every line. I have done extensive research into copyright law after having been burned before. It also
it doesn’t hurt that a friend is a partner in a copyright firm and has a sweet tooth for cookies! That aside, you are completely on the mark here. I am just so sorry that this has happened and also that people would act in such a deplorable manner. I am saddened and absolutely aghast at what I am reading.
Judith Hannemann says
Love your post.
As far as the offenders’ reaction, I just keep hearing my mother’s voice about this..”The best defense is a good offense,” and the way they come out swinging so nasty, you know they KNOW they are in the wrong.
Keep your chin up…know it’s hard.
MegaCrafty says
I absolutely hate this situation. I used to deal with copyright situations at work. At first it made me feel bad because I thought they were mostly crafters who didn’t seem to understand copyright laws- they were making handmade items and didn’t really get how the products they were making for sale hurt the author who’s work they were stealing. Then we would get the threatening emails telling us how much they now hated us and we started having to repeatedly send cease and desist letters to the same people. That’s when I stopped feeling bad. I don’t have sympathy for these people anymore. It’s their job to educate themselves on copyright matters and more often than not they know that they are breaking the law (or at the very least being unethical) and don’t care because they only want accolades for work that’s not theirs.
Personally I don’t take the time to use the “soft and nice” approach anymore. I go straight to having the site stopped for violations. I figure I’m saving myself (and all the other people they’ve stolen from) the time and frustrations of dealing with the person running the site. But I know this really doesn’t fix the bigger problem. And I don’t know what the solution is.
It’s sad to think that the crafting and food blogging culture can’t be sustained because all this backbiting further degrades the societal impression that all this work has no real market value and is just a free for all where credit to the creator isn’t even due.
Norma says
I visit many blogs and obtain recipes from them. When I copy the recipe, I always make sure I copy where the recipe came from, because when I get rave reviews about what I make, I can tell them where I got the recipe from. It’s only fair to share that information. I can follow a recipe that I’ve found and want to try, but I’m not good at putting one together from scratch, or an idea in my head, so I rely on those who do have that ability to provide a recipe I can follow and share. It’s really not a difficult task to include the information on where you got the recipe from, but I do understand that people in this day and age apparently feel they are “entitled” to whatever it is they want and can take it any way and any time they please. I just hope that each and every one of them that steals from someone else will someday, very soon, get something stolen from them that they took the time to put together and see exactly what it feels like. Unfortunately it probably won’t change things, but it seems the “cyber police” should be watching this more carefully and nip it in the bud. I don’t have a facebook account, and it sounds like it’s a good thing I don’t. My husband has one…but I refuse to participate in it. I also don’t twitter or pinterest. I like reading the blogs via email. Guess that’s just my age speaking! Any way, many of the bloggers who responded to your posting are bloggers who I visit often and get recipes from them or how-to instructions. I just hope this situation of copyright infringement doesn’t make you stop what you’re doing. I enjoy each and every blog I visit and enjoy and use the information I find there. I would hate to see it end. Eventually, the truth will come out and those in the right will prevail.
Jen McMenamin says
Hi Meaghan! First, I am so sorry that you have to deal with so much theft and harrassment. Your work is amazing and it’s heartbreaking that people fail to acknowledge you. I will not hesitate to comment if I see your work (or any other blogger’s that I recognize) being misused. Thanks bunches for everything you do here and at Edible Crafts! Please know that you are appreciated and that Sugarlicious is indeed 5 stars 🙂
Nicole Burris says
I love this post Meghan!
I wish there was a way to stop all of the bad things out there but I am at a lost too. I have not had anything taken from me {yet} and I hope it does not happen. It has made me not want to really post anything anymore.
Diane Monty says
Thank you for taking the time to highlight the situation regarding cyber thieves and bullys. The average reader of blogs would not be aware of this.
It is saddening to think that those who steal you work and ideas, would be anything but contrite.
Please do not give up the fight to contain this problem.
Your blog pictures, recipes and tutorials have been very inspiring. The possible lose of these resources would be a real blow to the average home baker looking to enhance her skills. Thank you for sharing what is clearly a passion for you and your fellow bloggers.
I hope the situation for you and your fellow bloggers get resolved soon. Hang in there!
The Partiologist says
I’m so sorry you and other bloggers have had to deal with this. Try not to let them get you down with their nastiness! I love your blog and I hope you are able to get justice from those bandits! (By the way your marshmallow bandit made me smile!) 🙂
Ben Applegate says
Good for you. My only advice is, don’t engage these people. As you’ve found out, they have no respect for others or for hard work. Just skip straight to reporting them to Facebook for copyright abuse. If Facebook overreacts and takes down the entire page — so much the better! You’ve helped everyone else who was ripped off too.
meaghanmountford says
Ben, I’ve learned that exact response the hard way. Don’t respond! Don’t engage. You’re so right.
kaholly says
I don’t ‘facebook’ and had no idea this travesty was going on. I am so sorry for you and everyone else that is affected. If it wasn’t for decorating gurus like you, I’d never have gotten started, explored my own creativity, and had so much fun. I hope you can somehow get past this and will continue with your awesome blog. Perhaps you could start reporting every page every time? This ISN’T when that old saying about copying being the biggest form of flattery (or something like that), can be applied. I’d feel violated, too!! Thanks for sharing and for doing so with the creative side of your brain. By the way, I’d give your book 5 stars!! ~karen
meaghanmountford says
Agree kaholly, report first I think. Also, it’s that kind of give and take (the creativity inspiring other creativity) that makes blogging worth it!!
Lilly says
Thoughtful, and kind-in-the-face-of-abuse post. Sending you lots of support!
Julia @cookandburn says
Wow! I had no idea! I’m an amateur food/fitness blogger and I am stunned. Recently, I received several strange comments on my old posts from various facebook addresses and I’ve just been putting them in my spam folder since they really don’t make sense. After reading your post, I wonder if someone has been re-posting some of my recipes/workouts?
Kirsten says
My mom (kaholly) suggested I read your post today, as I am an avid Facebooker. Never occurred to me that this might be going on. However, I have recently identified stolen blog posts on Pinterest, but didn’t have the cajones to say anything.
I will be more mindful of what I see on FB and am going to share your link this evening.
Have you considered applying watermarks across your photos instead of just your blog name at the top or bottom?
Thanks for all that you share for the rest of us!
tracy {pale yellow} says
It’s hard to believe people have the audacity to steal others’ words, pictures, and ideas. I highly doubt any of these people would ever go into a store or bakery and steal something and then try to sell it as their own, yet in the “wild west” of the internet it seems perfectly acceptable. Thank you for being a strong voice and for acting to stop these unfortunate events. Your blog was one of the first I started following and I not only value your creations and creativity, but also the stories you share about your lovely daughters. Keep it up Meaghan!
Michelelynne says
I agree that it was very brave of you to write this post. I wish I had some solution. There are good and bad sides of social networking and this is unfortunately the worst of the bad. You can’t let things like this keep you from sharing. Where would we be if you did?! Easy I know for us all to tell you to ignore it and carry on, but the alternative seems to be for you to develop an ulcer worrying about it and that’s not a good option. I for one hope you (and all the other legitimate food bloggers out there) continue what you are doing — and don’t spend too much of your valuable time worrying about these unethical people. Karma. What goes around comes around.