I am going through a law class right now. And I was reading about the coping thing from the other website. I am not saying this to be rude. I just wanted to clear something up. It is NOT against the law to copy and paste something if you are not saying its your and citing the website or book. I dont care where it comes from its not against the law. Now if this website says no copying and pasting from other websites or whatever then you have to listen. But I have taken many of classes and its not against the law to write word for word anything as long as you are given the credit. Thanks for you time.
I like this thread because it is important information we all
ought to know and be aware of, therefore I really hope it won't be deleted or locked.. unless someone refuses to hear it and is in the selective hearing mode!!! 
!!
I am in the selective hearing mode but it's the mode where I love what I'm hearing lol. 
I'm glad someone in law finally opened up and said this I found info almost identical to what is posted here and have posted it elsewhere so no need to repeat myself, but I did call my aunt earlier who works for a lawyer and she said the things I read on the website I refer to in another post are true and accurate. 
Happy Baking Yall!
Thank you for posting this. I thought the same thing was true since in college you write papers all the time and have to quote then cite sources. I always thought it was along the same principles. We do have to follow the rules that the administrators set forth though. I also hope that no one finds a reason to be nasty and then cause this to be locked. Let's have some healthy discussion! 
I just think it is very intersting how people can get angry about things like this. I never want to come off rude or anything like that. I just wanted to make it clear. Do you remember when you where in school and you had to do a research project and you needed to copy something from somewhere may it be a book or something. Anyways you where allowed to copy it word for word as long as you where not saying it was your own or not giving them credit other wise it is called plagerism which is against the law. Well as long as you cite it and give them credit then that is ok. Say you get a recipe from a cake book then you would say which book you got it from with the name of the author(s). That is how you are supposed to cite a book. I just wanted to let everyone know. But like heath said in another post this website also has rules.
you allowed to copy word for word as long as you encase it in quotation marks and site the work or web site it originated from.
I have a little cheat sheet at home that I got from my English professor that explains how to site from web sites!
I will try to find this post again and show you how it's done.
I understand how people can get worked up when they percieve their work as "STOLEN" but..if we learn to site our works, it may be a very beneficial give and take.
Driving a lot of traffic to the original web site.
I find in funny because most of yall are professional bakers and I am just a newbie. I am majoring in law and working on my bachelors. I am in the middle of taking a business law class and as soon as I heard what was going on I jumped on my email and emailed my teacher ASAP. I really love baking and always need something healthy to take my mind off of law. And when I came across this website I LOVED it and have never left. I just want to make sure everyone knows the laws on plagiarism which is what it is called when you copy with out citing.
I think I need to post here to clarify some things.
We implemented the rule about how to reference content from another site, on the advice of our lawyer. Not because we are in the wrong, but because we don't want to deal with going through a lawsuit which has enough gray area to make it POSSIBLE we could lose. People can sue for just about anything these days, and win or lose, its not worth the headache.
Where the gray area comes into play in this discussion is that Cake Central is different than writing a paper for school. Your paper is not a "for profit" enterprise. when dealing with the content of 2 different websites that both have a "for profit" element, things always become more complicated, and there are ways to argue both sides of the issue.
Because we do not want Cake Central, nor any of its members, to have to deal with the hassle of potential legal issues, we implemented a rule to protect against that situation.
I am sure no one here wants Cake Central to spend time fighting legal threats, just so you can quote directly from another website rather than pasting a link.
I understand wanting to protect what is yours and hits to your site mean business which I suspect is why providing a link to the original recipe would solve the problem in 911's eyes. But acting petty and saying sharing info on this site is no way to get more hits to your site. I have noticed that credit is always given when something is posted. There was talk about copyright laws in one of the posts today. It always seems to me that laws always lag behind tech stuff and regulating it. The internet is a big, big place and to expect individuals not to share information (responsibly of course, giving credit where credit is due) is unreasonable and unrealistic. Just my 2c.
yeah I wasnt sure the lady from baking911 was correct....nor am I sure why she cared so much.....but that is a whole other topic all together....it just is sad because this is the reason I will probably never post a recipe because lets face us how many have truly original recipes? Oh well someone is always unhappy.
I find this all interesting, because we do all share recipes all the time, and yes, I'd bet none of them (for the most part) are original.
What if Rose Levy B or Sylvia W show up and tell us to cease and desist posting their recipes, that you need to buy the book if you want the recipe...I wouldn't blame them--that's what they're in business for, right? Isn't that the same thing, basically?
So, what's the new rule that I missed and how shall it apply to recipes and the swap-page thereof?
Additionally, there is still alot of Gray Area out there regarding how much responsibility we, as the owners of Cake Central, have for the things posted by the membership in the forums. There is still alot of questions out there on this topic and we don't have the time or money to have our lawyer research the case law in this area to build up a defense should someone make threats.
NOW, if some law student in here wants to do a project of collecting all the case law on issues surrounding this "copyright" issue, as well as the responsibilities of site owners for the things posted by the members of a site, and put together a statement based on that information that a professor agrees is sound, we would be happy to reevaluate the rule here at CC
Believe me, we don't want to restrict how you share information at all, but we also don't want to spend a chunk of everyday responding to threatening emails, or worse yet, meeting with our lawyer to discussion the latest complants.
If anyone wants to discuss this with me directly, feel free to send me a PM or email.
That is exactly what I am saying Heath thats why yall have special rules that protect yall as well as us. I love this website and everyone in it. I love getting recipes from the people on here. I think that yall are correct with the way yall say you need to say in your own words that if you need help with technique Y then go here to this X website. That is a great way as to that way to protect everyone. But I think from all this no one will probably ever use baking911's website ever again.
I found it (the rule) in the announcements.
Thanks Heath.
I feel better, too--whenever I post recipes from a book, I use the ingred list but the whole instruction part and most of the list is TOTALLY redone in my own words, with tips and comments all throughout, so it's in no way a copy of the original word for word by a long shot...
*whew*
Ok I tell you what I will email my teacher with the information at hand and have her find out everything for me. I will have her talk to the other prof. too just to double check and I will find out what is fact and what is fiction. With forums and who is to blame and who isnt and if it is ok to post "recipes" as well as how you have to cite the recipe. I will also ask her any other questions I have for that matter.
Ahhhhe are such a protective family! I did quote some info on Room Temperature eggs in a post but did say I read it at 911baking. I personally do not see harm in telling another about why to use room temp eggs but to eah there own.
It is like posting photos. Stealing is one thing but giving credit is another-Grey Area!
Ok I tell you what I will email my teacher with the information at hand and have her find out everything for me. I will have her talk to the other prof. too just to double check and I will find out what is fact and what is fiction. With forums and who is to blame and who isnt and if it is ok to post "recipes" as well as how you have to cite the recipe. I will also ask her any other questions I have for that matter.
Sounds great! We all look forward to hearing what they have to say.
I just want to add something. I feel as though I am being accused of threatening cake central, of which I am not.
I am the copyright holder of the recipe that was copied word-for-word and posted on your site. I did not blame you for not giving me credit. You did give me credit. That was not the point.
I asked that you remove my recipe. It is my right as the holder of the copyright to do so. I don't have to give a reason as to why I wanted it removed from your site.
There are other cases of copied materials from my site on cc that I have not asked you to remove. All I ask is you should give me credit where credit is due, if you have not done already. I have not stopped anyone from sharing information from my site.
Thank you for removing the recipe in question. That's ALL I have asked and you have done so in a timely manner. Thanks.
Sarah Phillips
CEO and Founder, baking911.com
What I don't understand is why Baking911 didn't just PM/email Heath or Jackie and leave it at that. Let THEM take responsibilty for removing the offending recipe and posting some information about what is appropriate and what is inappropriate in the forums?
Instead, she posts an inflammatory post in the forum that she is complaining about (which was subsequently deleted) and expects no backlash? If all she wanted was the recipe deleted, why didn't she leave it at that?
And to be perfectly honest, I went to the site to see what all the fuss was about... it probably got a flood of hits after that one post. Interesting...?
Just my 0.02
If all she wanted was the recipe deleted, why didn't she leave it at that?
If that's what she had done, then we won't know she that is a
CEO and CO-Founder ..
Ok I have my huge law book out in front of me and this is what it says:
Section 102 fo the Copyright Act specifically exclude copyright protection for any "idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, priniciple, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustarted, or embodied." Note that is is not possible to copyright an idea. The underlying ideas embodied in a work may be freely used by others.
Ok and I found out as long as you are not taking someones recipe and then selling it, then it is not illegal. Ok say you go and you take the recipe then use it that is fine but if you go and take the recipe and then sell it say in a book on a website then it is illegal. So if this was a website in which we payed to join then that would be illegal but since we are using this website just to learn how to make a recipe then that is fine.
In Sarah's defense, I see her point, and I like her and her website very much and have gone there for advice and baking advice more than once myself.
With the new rule in place, I think we can all rest easy, give credit (and links) where due, and live and learn from both websites. Getting riled up back and forth won't help and can only cause hard feelings...
g'nite
Ok and by law if she asks you to remove it then you have to but if they dont then you dont have too. It says in my book let me get it out again.. Hold on...
"Under the act, (DMCA Digital Millennium Copyright Act) an ISP in not liable for any copyright infringement by its customer unless the ISP is told to take action to shut it down and does not do so."
Which means if someone takes a recipe and even if they cite it and are told to take it down then you have to. So if Sarah wants you to only take that one recipe down then thats what you have to do. As for anything else on the website as long as your arnt told to "shut it down" then you dont have too.
And to cite my book "West's Business Law Tenth Edition Clarkson Miller Jentz Cross."
Sarah does contact Jackie and I directly and normal never posts on the forum.
I think she decided to post because there had been a number of people unaware of the rule about how to post correctly and so she wanted to make a personal request to the community to follow the guidelines we implemented.
Finnox,
Just send us the bill for this consultation !!! LOL 
Really, thank you for all your time in looking into this..THANK YOU..
Maybe we will see you in Law And Order on TV someday..
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