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Got a cease and desist for posting a recipe last Tuesday in Pennsylvania
I run a small food blog and last month I posted a recipe for a traditional dish from a country that has strict food copyright laws. Last Tuesday, I got an email from a lawyer representing some company there saying I had to take it down or face fines. The recipe was something my grandma taught me, not something I copied from anywhere. It took me a week to realize they were claiming I stole it because the dish has a protected name under their cultural heritage laws. I had to change the title and remove certain words to keep it up. Has anyone else dealt with food or recipe bans from other countries? It feels like free speech gets real messy when you cross borders with something as simple as a list of ingredients.
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lee73323d ago
Wait can they really copyright a recipe name across borders like that? That's wild.
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felix1553d ago
Oh man that is such a messy situation. @lee733 its actually a real thing, i saw a article last year about how some countries like Italy and France have these laws protecting traditional food names. The company was probably trying to enforce their trademark on the region name or something. Changing the title was smart, its ridiculous that you have to dance around just to share your grandmas recipe on the internet. Food copyright gets weird when its tied to cultural heritage laws, feels more like a branding fight than protecting actual recipes.
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