Imagine waking up one day and finding out in a circuitous way that some of the contents of your latest cookbook, Vegan Under Pressure, into which you had put in a couple of years of work – heart and soul- had been “republished” in a “free” Kindle ebook available on Amazon?
This is real. I am not making this up. It happened to me, recently. I would not likely have noticed this free Kindle book as I don’t need to learn about pressure cooking (even though I sometimes download these books just to see if I am missing anything). Someone on Facebook alerted me and here we go.
It turns out that there is a trio of (likely made up names) men, one of whom says that he is a chef (I think that he means thief) who lives on Long Island with his family. His name is Daniel Hinkle. It is prominently displayed on these ebooks, one of which he calls Vegan Under Pressure. Funny? That’s the name of my latest book. Perhaps you made an error Daniel. Maybe you think that with all my kindness, love and compassion that I am not going to do everything in my power to stop you from ripping off other people. You have pushed a big button for me. I believe in integrity and honesty.
It is clear that you don’t likely have either quality, from what I can see.
Here are the details: Daniel Hinkle has a number of ebooks on Amazon beyond Vegan Under Pressure. He also used the name of Lindsay S. Nixon’s book Happy Herbivore Light and Lean and says that it has pressure cooking recipes. Many of those are mine, too. My recipes also appear in a couple of other books: Better Than Vegan: Essential 25 Pressure Cooker Recipes for Healthy Living & Plant-Based Lifestyle (DH Kitchen Book 42) (Kindle Edition) and at least one more ebook. I am tired of putting my energy toward this but feel like I want this guy to stop. Not just for me but because he is pushing so hard against my values.
So, on to the good part: Social Love. Within hours of finding out about this plagiarism, I posted on Facebook and there are now more than 130 1 star reviews for the fake ebook Vegan Under Pressure. I had so much positive energy coming my way that it makes my heart fuller than it seems it could be.
I keep wondering why someone could do this? One of my friends told me that my stuff is so good that Mr. Hinkle wants to use it. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I don’t need, or want, flattery.
I want my work protected and not used by people to whom I could assign names that I will not print here. My publisher’s legal team is working on this but what is Amazon going to do? So far, nothing. (note: within a week of this incident Amazon did pull those Kindle books)
If you know of any great intellectual property attorneys who would like to help me get Amazon to stop this blatant thievery, I would love to get their names. Oh, and did I say that because I am such a well-paid author that they will have to work pro-bono? This is not just about me. I want the system changed so this does not keep happening.
I don’t have the time or energy to spend on this. I want to be in the kitchen creating or sitting here writing.
So Mr. Daniel Hinkle, watch out…I’ve got social love on my side. What do you have on yours?
NOTE: after I wrote this but it was not yet published, I got an email from Daniel Hinkle, which he told me is not his real name, that one of his “authors” plagiarized my book and that he has fired them. And wouldn’t I please like to straighten this out because he has lost sleep (and obviously money) over this.
Amazon’s initial response is that they don’t check on their publishers but perhaps in Mr. Hinkle’s case, they truly might want to.
Jasmine says
What I think a lot of food bloggers don’t get, and this may not be the case in this particular instance, is that you can’t copyright a recipe and for good reason. Let,s take the sugar cookie for just an example. This recipe is old as time and it can be tweaked and reinvented sure, but the actual plain ol’ sugar cookie recipe is close to or exact no matter who’s recipe you use. The thing that changes is the method and the experience and the history for you, the food blogger. You (using the term figuratively) didn’t invent the sugar cookie. Plagiarizing someone experience and history and methods is a lot different than plagiarizing a recipe. You can’t own the sugar cookie recipe, it’s old as time. You however should be prosecuted for plagiarizing someone’s experience but unless ou are creating new methods of cooking, chances are, your recipes are not new and have been done before after all, a recipe is just the mixing of two or more ingredients together. It’s kinda egotistical to think no one has combined the exact same ingredients as you.
Jill Nussinow says
Jasmine,
I am not discussing sugar cookies here. I am talking about using my exact words and exact techniques.
I have seen versions of my recipes online and cannot prove that they are mine but look similar. I understand that process.
What irks me about what happened is that the words (and photos which are copyrighted) were lifted directly from my book, as written. There is no ego in this. I just want to see this type of behavior stopped so that we (wealthy) bloggers and authors can continue to do our work.
Thank you for your comment but since I create fairly new methods of cooking, I don’t feel that it’s especially appropriate. Do you have something against bloggers? I am just curious. (Do you write and develop recipes? It’s work.)
Tina says
What Jill is experiencing is totally different from what Jasmine is referring to. Sure we can take a recipe, change a few items and call it our own. However, I can’t take an Ansel Adams print, place my own mat on it and call it my work. Fact is her BOOK was copyrighted. We recently saw a competitor’s website and they had OUR EXACT wording on theirs. My husband said “I WROTE THAT”……. it’s really odd to see your work, your writing under someone else’s name. It’s not ego – it hard work that’s stolen and that’s illegal.
There’s a reason that Sam Smith now gives additional credit on his recording even though it was a “coincidence”.
Over the weekend, The Sun reported that Sam Smith had quietly and amicably settled a copyright dispute with Tom Petty over the likeness between Smith’s three-time Grammy-nominated “Stay With Me” and Petty’s Full Moon Fever hit “I Won’t Back Down,” co-written with ELO’s Jeff Lynne. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Smith’s reps have confirmed that “Stay With Me” is now co-credited to Petty and Lynne, adding that while there are undeniable “similarities” between the two singles, it was a “complete coincidence.”
Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/sam-smith–tom-petty-settlement-20150126#ixzz44OZ4T1zP
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… NOTE: I gave credit to the information I copied —-
Jill Nussinow says
You got it Tina and you even added more to the conversation. Thank you so much for pointing out what a lot of people overlook. I did not know about this music issue so now you’ve even made my original post even better. I appreciate it.