# The web is public domain? Thanks for the info, Cooks Source magazine! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487 "2010-11-04T17:56:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/21 "2010-11-04T19:12:11Z")
Yep. The news has hit the WORLD. Scalzi and [Neil Gaiman](http://twitter.com/neilhimself/statuses/29673300750)on Twitter, for starters, plus [Boing Boing](http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/04/todays-web-justice-d.html)and Reddit. FB is collecting a [whole mess of similarly stolen recipes](http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=196994196748&topic=23238), including from the Food Network and NPR. And [Paula Deen has lawyered up.](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=162870240412203&set=o.104698228576) Some days, schadenfreude is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/22 "2010-11-04T19:20:30Z")
Beauteous. My only regret is that I can’t follow the actual drama on FB from work. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/23 "2010-11-04T19:21:06Z")
Disclaimer: the following is not an official statement from the USPTO. > [@Pleonast](#): > > You are confusing copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets (and maybe patents too). > > A copyright gives the owner exclusive right to make reproductions of a creative work. A trademark gives the owner exclusive right to an identifying symbol for commercial purpose. A patent gives the owner exclusive right to a process or method. Or a specific design. The tread on a Michelin XGV, for example. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/24 "2010-11-04T19:29:41Z")
Further reading: Apparently one of the recipes was lifted from Recipes Today, which is owned by Disney, which is not known for retaining a kind and generous lawyerly cadre. Plus, that Paula Deen recipe was also published in dead tree format, so it’s not just Deen herself, it’s also the publisher’s lawyers. And I took a closer look at the Deen example, and it’s a word for word ripoff from start to end, not just the ingredients list. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/25 "2010-11-04T19:31:29Z")
Bye bye, Cooks Source. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/26 "2010-11-04T19:52:27Z")
Hah! I just Googled them since I hadn’t heard of them before, and the first hit is a Washington Post article on the hubbub. The title includes the phrase, “how to annoy the Internet.” You get Food Network, NPR, and **Disney** pissed at you? Better pray. Edit: The article includes comments that Martha Stewart, Weight Watchers, and WebMD were plagiarized from as well, and that thus may have been happening over the last few decades. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/27 "2010-11-04T19:56:14Z")
As a published writer this crappy behavior unfortunately does not surprise me. I routinely run into people who steal my articles from the web without attribution. The last person who did it required three emails before he finally agreed to stop. He then offered me more writing work – at a penny a word. He’s a plumber. I wrote him back asking if would come over and fix my drains for five bucks. Shockingly he had no comment about my generous offer. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/28 "2010-11-04T20:35:43Z")
Wow. That editor’s response is one of the stupidest, most irresponsible things I’ve read from an editor. She obviously does _not_ know copyright law if she thinks anything on the Internet is “public domain.” (This is assuming, from what I understand, that the recipe and exact wording were lifted wholesale from the Gode Cookery website, which seems to be the case.) The Smithsonian Magazine once, through an honest error, used two of my photos that I posted on a local food message board in an online article of theirs–not even their print version. I sent them a polite letter asking them to take it down or, if they’d like web usage rights, that I’d be willing to sell it to them for $400. To my surprise, they actually paid me the four hundred bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/29 "2010-11-04T21:11:36Z")
So, death pool on when the website gets unplugged? I’ll say Dec 9 (3 days for certified letters, plus 30 days to cease & desist). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/30 "2010-11-04T21:12:53Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > There are laws protecting the rights of owners of copyrights, trademarks and patents. Trade secrets are not directly protected. Not true. Patents and copyrights are protected exclusively by federal law. Trademarks are protected by both federal and state law. Trade secrets are protected exclusively under state law. Most states have enacted some version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/31 "2010-11-04T21:22:08Z")
The Cooks Source site is down. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/32 "2010-11-04T21:27:22Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > So, death pool on when the website gets unplugged? I’ll say Dec 9 (3 days for certified letters, plus 30 days to cease & desist). > [@jjimm](#): > > The Cooks Source site is down. Wow, that was fast 😃 (I know, I know, “down” doesn’t mean “out”) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/33 "2010-11-04T21:30:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > She obviously does _not_ know copyright law if she thinks anything on the Internet is “public domain.” A more likely case, I think, is that she thinks that Ms Gaudino, having published on the web, not through a dead tree publisher, is ignorant of the laws, and can be convinced by such lies. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/34 "2010-11-04T21:30:59Z")
It’s back up again. I’ve never seen an online “discussion” move so fast. I posted to it and within 2 minutes my post was off the bottom of the second page. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/35 "2010-11-04T21:35:25Z")
Well she has repsonded on Facebook: > [@](#): > > Well, here I am with egg on my face! I did apologise to Monica via email, but aparently it wasnt enough for her. To all of you, thank you for your interest in Cooks Source and Again, to Monica, I am sorry – my bad! > You did find a way to get your “pound of flesh…” we used to have 110 “friends,” we now have 1,…870… wow! > > Best to all, Judith > See More _Reprinted without persmission_ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/36 "2010-11-04T21:36:56Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > People steal other people’s work all the time, but you rarely get a plagiarist writing to her victim and saying that she should pay the thief for the privilege of being stolen from. > > In 2005 a writer named Monica Gaudino wrote a little piece about how to make medieval apple pies and posted it to the Gode Cookery website [here](http://www.godecookery.com/twotarts/twotarts.html). If you scroll to the bottom you can even see the copyright notice. > > A few days ago she discovered that Cooks Source magazine had copied her piece and printed it without asking. Assuming it was an honest error, she wrote asking for an apology, a published retraction, and a nominal donation to the Columbia School of Journalism. You can read about it [here](http://illadore.livejournal.com/30674.html)on her LiveJournal. > > What she got back instead was a snotty email about how the web is “public domain” and that she should be thankful that they took the time to edit her piece. Here’s an excerpt: > > Christ, what an asshole! > > The [Cooks Source Facebook page](http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooks-Source-Magazine/196994196748) is a pleasure to behold. Check it out before they take it down to put an end to the non-stop flaming. Well, shit, people here argue that it’s OK to illegally download music… I’m interested in seeing how they spin this one. 😃 (He sez before reading the rest of the thread…) ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/37 "2010-11-04T21:38:04Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > The article includes comments that Martha Stewart, Weight Watchers, and WebMD were plagiarized from as well, and that thus may have been happening over the last few decades. Well, she did say that she had many who write for her for free. It’s just that they didn’t know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/38 "2010-11-04T21:38:15Z")
> [@](#): > > I did apologise to Monica via email, but aparently it wasnt enough for her. Wow. How does this woman still have a job? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/39 "2010-11-04T21:39:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Well, shit, people here argue that it’s OK to illegally download music I highly doubt you’ll find anyone on this forum who legitimately claims that it’s okay to download someone else’s music, claim it as your own, and sell it to other people. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487/40 "2010-11-04T21:41:18Z")
Is Monica still pursuing this? I really hope so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-web-is-public-domain-thanks-for-the-info-cooks-source-magazine/559487.md?page=3)