Torte law: bakers are in a food fight over allegations of plagiarism – but who really owns a recipe?
Bestselling Australian cookbook author Brooke Bellamy is under fire from Nagi Maehashi and Sally McKenney for copying recipes, allegations she denies. In a precise art like baking, how close is too close?
Just days before their titles go head to head in an industry award, Australia’s bestselling cookbook author, Nagi Maehashi, has accused one of the country’s next bestsellers, Brooke Bellamy, of plagiarism. Ordinarily claims of literary theft would be fairly straightforward, but in recipe writing, allegations are far less clear cut. After all, there are only so many ways you can bake a cake – or in this case, baklava and caramel slice.
In a blog entry on Tuesday, Maehashi alleged Bellamy had taken substantially from two free recipes posted to Maehashi’s website RecipeTin Eats. A day later, on Instagram, American cookery author Sally McKenney also alleged Bellamy had copied one of her recipes – The Best Vanilla Cake I’ve Ever Had.
Law (Australia) | The Guardian
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