cheflindsay

[hiimkelsi]

whoah.  thats just so bizarre!!  i mean.  i thought that i did boring, useless things in my free time (like read pages and pages of saucydwellings on lj.. hehe) but to put in all the effort to copy recipes and pictures from one site to another.  now that is pretty useless. 

ohwell.   i look forward to making these martha stewart and recipebazaar recipes!!!

[Ranu]

I don't understand why everyone is angry about this, we got to try tasty stuff we otherwise wouldn't have, and yes it was wrong of her to take the stuff and call it hers, but everyone makes mistakes. I don't think any of us have lived a life that's regret free, and there is no reason to be so mean to her about it. We agree it was wrong. Now be nice.

[Allychristine]

Hey everyone, I received a fast reply from CL, and she stated that I could relay it to others. So, let us heal and move on! This is the message from Veganworld:

On 2008-05-21 20:27:52 ChefLindsay wrote:
>You may relay this message to others if you choose, or just summerize...my deepest apologies.
>
>
>All I can say I guess is that the majority are in fact recipes that I have veganized and gotten good results and/or responses from, and so I thought other vegans would like to try and appreciate some good recipes that they may have not seen before. I truly and sincerely apologize for the controversy this has clearly caused. I did not mean any harm...but I do see where everyone is coming from. My intentions were not deception...only to give other vegans a chance to expand their options and to possibly impress others, vegans and non-vegans alike, with some great dishes. I guess it just didn't occur to me since pretty much every single recipe on the internet, wherever you may look, is either directly or indirectly a recreation of another...basically, every recipe has come from someone else, and I know that there are many other recipes on VegWeb that fall into this category and have been veganized. I am in no way trying to justify this, but it is a fact I wanted to point out. Again, my sincerest apologies to all who have been bothered by this. I have already requested that the recipes I have posted be taken down, and I will not be returning there to post again. Please accept this apology, and all I can say is I'm human...I'm sure you can all relate. Take care and please let this be the final discussion of me, the recipes, or anything else related.
>-C.L.

[pinkerbell03]

I don't think we're being mean, I think we're upset. This is like a big ol' honkin happy family to most of us, and when someone comes in and lies to us, we get pissed. You act like she lied accidentally. No, she purposefully lied, deceived us, and tried to cover it up. Trust me, I know I have some thoughts about the situation that I'm not posting, and I'm guessing others do too. Stealing recipes is wrong. Stealing pictures of recipes is wrong. This wasn't a mistake, it was purposeful. There's a HUGE difference.

[laur b.]

well what really bothers me is how she was so quick and willing to take all the compliments and praise she was getting, especially for the pictures, which are even more blatantly copied than the recipes. i wouldn't mind so much if she just posted the recipes and left it at that.

[~treehugginghippiefreak~]

I personal don't think anyone was being mean.  I also think there is a reason to feel whatever emotion you are feeling..she lied and misled people and then readily accepted their praise..yes everyone makes mistakes but then they own up to them and apologize.  She deleted her profile and ran because she was discovered as being dishonest.  Doesn't seem to me that she wanted to apologize or explain. 

[pinkerbell03]

and like I predicted earlier, I do not believe a word of that explanation.

[~treehugginghippiefreak~]

and like I predicted earlier, I do not believe a word of that explanation.

agreed

[little2ant]

so are her recipes down? i want to book mark them before they are gone (even if they aren't hers). I already wrote down the brownie one, but there may be other i want to try!

[KissMeKate]

well what really bothers me is how she was so quick and willing to take all the compliments and praise she was getting, especially for the pictures, which are even more blatantly copied than the recipes. i wouldn't mind so much if she just posted the recipes and left it at that.

I personal don't think anyone was being mean.  I also think there is a reason to feel whatever emotion you are feeling..she lied and misled people and then readily accepted their praise..yes everyone makes mistakes but then they own up to them and apologize.  She deleted her profile and ran because she was discovered as being dishonest.  Doesn't seem to me that she wanted to apologize or explain.

These. 

I mean yeah, it was a mistake.  But she carried it a little too far.

Like I've said, she would have done well to at least acknowledge the sources at some point along the way, or to post about her success in veganizing the recipes on the forums.  She outright lied, though!  She made us think they were some original idea that she'd develop for these plans she was creating!  And then she basically said, "Don't let anyone else on the web tell you they thought of these recipe first, they are mine!"  That's the terrible part.  She lied when we confronted her about it.  If she'd said, yeah they're not mine, it might have been cool.

"It didn't occur to me" that this was stealing?  Come on now. 

I think a lot of us feel taken advantage of, that's all.  And insulted. 

[KissMeKate]

Also, it's quite clear in the recipe submission form that they are supposed to be original.  Granted, every recipe here may not be original, but hers just got a lot of attention, so she was easy to find out.  That's how it goes.

[Capture]

It's all so lame and sad! She must have a very pathetic life to sit around and steal--I mean "alter" recipies and rip off pics. Whatever. Props to THHF and Bp for doing their homework and busting the theif!

[baypuppy]

since i got myself involved, i want to add a couple things from my adventures with this (mod hat came out of retirement LOL)

first, several recipes were copies from other sites. but not all had webhits or matches. i don't know if this means they are from cookbooks or what. i like to think my plagiarism checking program is tight. so i think that we shouldn't toss out the baby with the bathwater when pointing at recipes. if there is documentation, great, if not, we can't do much. again, she should have said that it was adapted, yadda yadda yadda, but too late now.

i send y messages for the few recipes i got hits on and posted the hit link in a comment on the recipe. i know she has taken down unauthorized recipes in the past and i'm sure she'll do the same again (i remember the PPK chewy chocolate chocolate chip recipe getting posted on here a while back. the poster said they had got it from a friend and they all love it but didn't know the original source. it was shortly removed.)

i think the feelings are legit and that many of us are sad. if she had said, yeah, people love my recipes, i like to mess with omni ones and make them better and vegan! i don't think people would have complained. but to not say that, to claim originality when the text/directions for some were verbatim from other sites... its just too much. and one cannot claim ignorance of copyright law as a defense (i looked into this stuff, being in academia and all) for copyright violation or plagiarism (i think we have both issues here). its like when a student of mine turns in a paper that is a rewording of wikipedia. regardless of if said student cites it or not, it still isn't "his/her work" being submitted. you can't take credit for something being "your own" if you just change a couple things.

finally, i'm also reminded of the conversation about how there aren't "original recipes" but variations of different things (like, how many chocolate cakes on here are like the same thing basically?). i think this is a different kind of point, but still relevant. recipe creation doesn't always mean "reinventing the wheel" but i think it is clear when its "common practice" that someone might toss together because they know the flavors work well together and they make something versus taking another's recipe, swapping in the word "vegan" and keeping most other things (including directions) the same.

that's my two cents, but i'm pretty done with this. yeah, its annoying and hurtful, but it happens.

[caroleena]

Hey, this seems as good of a place to ask as any... what is the proper procedure for when a recipe on here is CLEARLY plagiarized? A few months ago I found my DH's favorite veggie recipe on here--Asian Broccoli Noodles, from Sarah Fritchner's "Vegetarian Express Lane" cookbook

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8546.0


There were ways to report comments but not recipes. I mean, it is WORD FOR WORD, right down to recommending roasted carrots or sliced tomatoes as sides and how to adjust the proportions if you want to add tofu. The ONLY difference I see is the word "vegan" sprinkled in a few times (e.g., using "vegan sugar" instead of "sugar").

The thing that gets me the most annoyed is this comment:

"Hi Everyone!  This is the same Renee who submitted this recipe over 3 years ago!I forgot that that I submitted this recipe here until I stumbled upon the site again after a long absence.  I created this recipe for my son Kyle who was 17 years old and a new vegan about 3 years ago.(I think) We too have continued to enjoy this recipe for all these years.  I just wanted to say thank you to all those who wrote such nice comments about my recipe and also to those who wrote such creative and helpful additions/changes to the dish as well.  I'm  happy so many of you like it and I hope many more will continue to make this dish one of their favorites.  In honor of my much-loved first born son Kyle who inspired me to create this recipe...I hearby change the name to...Kyles Asian Broccoli Noodles!  Peace, Renee     (From Minneapolis, Minnesota USA)"

 

I was so mad and, I admit, lost a bit of faith in VegWeb that day. In an odd way, this thread here really has restored it, since so many here are clearly so outraged.

[baypuppy]

Caroleena,

At the bottom of all recipes, you will see a link "report to administration." click that and you can send yvette a note saying that the recipe is out of a book (of course, say what book and where in the book). she will remove it.

sometimes i really think that "plagiarized" recipes are ones that get handed down so much that we loose track of where they come from. you know, you go to a party, wow that dip is good, you get a copy of it, cycle repeats and over time the "recipe from book X" is lost. i don't think this is a issue of people trying to be dishonest, but we have to get them out of the system just to respect the original authors.

but the cases that are clearly "pulling the cotton over the eyes", yeah, i don't get why people would do that. we all want yummy food in the end, but if i was going to submit something i would google hunt for it and, if not found, submit it with the clause "my friends gave this to me, source unknown" and not try to let it appear in the slightest that i created it, but rather that i'm sharing it.