Is it too hard to play fair?
A funny thing happened when a fellow food blogger did some research on bulalo recipes in preparation for cooking his own. He found a recipe in The Manila Bulletin Online published in July, 2006. But, having read my food blog before, the words he read just seemed uncannily familiar. He scoured my archives, found my bulalo recipe published in December, 2003, and then e-mailed me. I’m not sure he wants his identity known; if I get his permission I will name him.
(Insert: Thank you, Marketman).
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I fully intended to submit this article as my op-ed column for Tuesday but, after thinking it though… This is PERSONAL and it wouldn’t be fair to involve Manila Standard Today (insert: on second thought, this gutter level of unprofessionalism should be a public concern). I must also say that I have full screenshots should the need for them arise.
Below is the bulalo recipe from The Manila Bulletin, as published in its Society section:
BULALAO (traditional beef shank soup)
Ingredients:
750 grams bulalo (bone-in beef shank)
1 pc onion, whole
1 clove garlic
6 to 8 pcs peppercorns
salt to taste
2 bunches pechay (Chinese cabbage)
½ head cabbage (Napa variety)
250 grams potatoes
1 pc carrotProcedure:
Cut the beef shank crosswise into 1 and ½-inch thick pieces. Place the beef shanks in a large casserole.
Cover with water. Add the whole onion, garlic (pierced in several places with a knife), and peppercorns.
Season with salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Remove the scum as it rises.
Lower the heat. Cover and simmer for two hours or until the beef is forktender. Alternately, cook the beef in a pressure cooker for 90 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the beef shanks and arrange them in individual soup bowls.
Strain the broth. Reheat to almost boiling. Peel the carrot and potatoes and chop into chunks. Core the cabbage and cook until tender.
Add the pechay last and cook for three more minutes. Scoop out all the vegetables from the broth. Arrange them around the bulalo in the soup bowls. Pour the hot broth over them. Serve at once.
Now here is my recipe published two and a half years earlier. Note the highlighted portions.
Bulalo
Ingredients :
750 g. of bulalo (bone-in beef shank)
1 whole onion
1 whole garlic
1 bay leaf
6-8 peppercorns
salt
2 bunches of pechay (Chinese cabbage or pei tsai)
1/2 head of cabbage (Napa variety)
250 g. of potatoes
1 large carrotCooking procedure :
Have the grocer or meat vendor cut the shank crosswise into 1-1/2″thick pieces. The best way to do this is to have it cut with an electric meat saw.
Place the beef shanks in a large casserole. Cover with water. Add the whole onion, garlic (pierced in several places with a sharp pointed knife), bay leaf and peppercorns. Season with salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil, removing scum as it rises. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for two hours or until the beef is fork-tender. Alternatively, pressure-cook for one hour and 30 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the beef shanks and arrange at the center of individual soup bowls. Strain the broth. Reheat to boiling point.
Peel the carrot and potatoes and cut into chunks. Core the cabbage and cut in half. Trim the ends of the pechay. Add the carrots to the broth and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add the potatoes and cabbage leaves and simmer for another 8-10 minutes. Lastly, add the pechay leaves and simmer for another 3 minutes.
Scoop the vegetables out and arrange around the bulalo. Pour in hot broth and serve at once.
Wow, isn’t that amazing? The reproduction of the words inside the parentheses is especially hilarious. Why, even adjectives and adverbs are the same! “Slotted spoon.” “Large casserole.” “Alternatively, pressure-cook…” Should I be thankful that instead of copying the phrase one hour and 30 minutes, “90 minutes” was substituted? Or that instead of 1 whole onion, it was “1 pc. onion, whole”? Or that in lieu of 1 whole garlic, it was “1 clove garlic”? Or that 6-8 peppercorns became “6 to 8 pcs. peppercorns”? And “250 grams of potatoes” instead of 250 g. of potatoes? Or that the last two instructions were reworded like a token of a joke? My, my, how utterly professional. The same exact ingredients except for the omission of the bay leaf. My goodness, even the recommended thickness of the beef shanks is exact to the last millimeter.
And here’s the punchline. It’s so pathetic that it’s almost genuinely funny. One whole garlic is not the same as one clove of garlic. Use one clove of garlic instead of one whole garlic for 750 grams of meat and it’s next to useless. That’s the problem when you publish recipes that aren’t yours and never cooked — ignorance shows through. And [expletives deleted], even my glaring mistakes were copied. The stupid fool who used my work did not even know that there are more than a dozen varieties of Chinese cabbage and the local repolyo is not entirely the same as the Napa cabbage — things I discovered long after I published the bulalo recipe in Pinoy Cook.
Oh, boy. As though it wasn’t enough that small time web site operators keep doing the same thing to me.
But here is really what bothers me. Was there any reason why The Manila Bulletin could not have simply asked my written permission to republish my work? When Bulletin’s Blog-o-Rama columnist Annalyn Jusay wrote an article about me on the heels of the 1st Philippine Blogging Summit in 2005, then asked for a copy of my speech and permission to publish it, she didn’t have to ask twice. I even supplied, per her request, the group photo that went with the article. FOR FREE. I should have demanded compensation but, in the end, I decided that my message, and the exposure that I felt Filipino bloggers deserved to get, meant far more than any amount of money.
I have communicated with Bulletin’s Technews editor Art Samaniego in the past and he knows I am a reasonable person to deal with. So, why couldn’t the people from the Society section ask my written permission? I MIGHT HAVE said yes IF they had been willing to give proper attribution.
So, what do I want now? Money? Money can never even remotely approximate the anguish and rage that I feel right now. Am I angling for a more lucrative writing post? Hell, no, I’m not interested. Do I want my work taken down from The Manila Bulletin Online? That will be a good start.
Do I want a public apology? That will be a good second step although, from experience, I know that newspapers are too snooty to admit their mistakes and apologize. Two food bloggers have been in this shithole before when their yema photos were published, without their knowledge and permission, in another national daily. And, just a few months ago, there was that article by Cathy Guballa Babao in The Philippine Daily Inquirer that said I merely “helped” put up Pinoy Moms Network when, in fact, it was my idea from the very start. She did interview me, you see, and still… Did I get even as much as an explanation?
So why didn’t I just write to The Manila Bulletin and demand that MY work be deleted from their site and settle all this quietly? All things considered…?? Because I need vindication as a blogger.
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[...] ko lang noong isang araw sa post ni Connie Veneracion tungkol sa pangongopya ng Manila Bulletin sa recipe niya. Ngayong gabi, ipinabasa sa akin ni Vernon Totanes, the Filipino Librarian, ang kanyang bukas na [...]
We feast everyday!
The article makes it sound like the recipes are from Gerry’s Grill but yeah, it’s obvious it was lifted from your site. Shame, shame on MB!
Sue them, is what my old self would recommend. Then again, just asking for proper recognition would be good, I think. Sorry for your IPR violation.
hi connie. did you get my email? “small time” lang pala yung nakita ko na in-email ko sa iyo
So what do you do now?
Isn’t it ironic that Manila Bulletin takes so much effort to recognize and pay tribute to bloggers as independent publishers, especially via Blog-o-rama, yet in the same breath, it can negate all that effort and recognition by stepping all over the rights of a blogger?
The truth is, I don’t want to dwell on negative thoughts and feelings. It took me a long time to get back on the right track with my blogging, to turn my back on petty political issues and to focus on projects and issues that really matter. I don’t want to dwell on this and stay angry and be unproductive. I want to write. That’s what I do — write — and this is just another one of those things.
I just don’t know how professional journalists can mouth the word “ethics” under the circumstances.
Anak ng pitong patola! I can feel your rage where I’m sitting. Bad trip ang manakawan ng gamit o ng pera, pero mas kasumpa-sumpa nga talaga ang manakawan ng idea.
Tsk, tsk, long before PMN I stumbled into your Bistek recipe (which was really good and a hit among my filipino guests) and I clearly remember a note warning about copyright violations. You would think in Manila being such a small place that people working for a big company like that would be more careful in lifting a work from a well known blogger and using it. Whoever the offender was thought that it would never be noticed. Not!
This surprises me, not the plagiarism but a supposed respected broadsheet commits this mistake. Uh-oh.
geesh I wonder who re-wrote your recipe. It isn’t that hard to get permission, is it?
Is your email address easy to reach? Since this might not be the first time to happen, maybe you need to put a visible contact form. When I was first new in the blogosphere, I couldn’t find your email address. I had to surf through many blogs to find it.
In my photo gallery, I place my email address above and below the photo for them to email me for permission. It works like a charm so far.
@noemi, simple lang yan eh. if you can’t get permission — for whatever reason — you don’t republish, period. i don’t have an obligation to newspapers or other bloggers to provide them with materials. if they have no materials, they have no business being a publisher.
besides, a newspaper has a batallion of paid writers. if these writers will simply surf the net for materials they can republish, what the hell are they getting paid for?
i don’t have a problem with fair use, alam mo. but the way my article was published was really malicious.
Connie, wala na talagang safe sa internet ano? Coming up with a topic to post, especially about food isn’t that easy. We work hard starting from meal planning, buying ingredients, time in the kitchen, plating, taking photos (naku! eh kodakan pa lang, lawit na dila ng kasambahay ko sa dinner table dahil I take numerous shots so I could choose) at hindi rin yata alam ng malisyosa/o na kumuha ng article mo na may kasama pa’ng hugasan ng pinggan yan after a meal -(at least sa part ko
) then blogging (kasama na dyan yung uploading ng images…
tama ka, sana man lang marunong magluto ng passed ng work mo, tsk tsk…kaasar yan ha!
at isa pang tama ka ulit…let’s not dwell on the negative na lang – may karma naman di ba?
Legally, is there a way you can get back at them? Does the law on intellectual property cover original blog content? Kasi that’s outright plagiarism. Nakakahiya sila!
thess, totoo yan. the work involved with writing one food entry is not just the actual writing. tama ka, from the planning to the cooking to the photography. the gall talaga of some people.
kongkong, the intellectual property call covers ALL. there is a general clause. point is, what will i gain. pera lang naman in the form of damages ang makukuha ko roon. And it’s not about the money. It’s about respect.
I can understand how that “stealing” instead of “asking permission” can be pretty disturbing.
i can feel your rage and can emphatize. the gall, akala nila they can really get away with it, ha. the blogger world is not stupid!
what the heck is wrong with these people? even if they didn’t ask your permission, a footnote with your name and URL of your blog at the end of the article would have sufficed. It’s not that hard to add those texts. I was glaring at the “1 clove garlic”. Stupid ass.
So what’s Manila Bulletin’s defense about this now? The section editor was out of the country? He/she was in a conference they couldn’t reach to confirm the article?. Whomever copied your article “forgot” to add your link? Which will be a BS excuse since some of the texts were changed so it’s obivous they didn’t want you credited. That the one who printed it is an intern?
Excuses excuses. This isn’t the first time their publication made a blatant mistake. On all levels, AGAIN. MB needs to start firing people, Hah.
True, pera lang yan! Pero siguro mas mabuti sampahan mo na lang ng kaso ang mga damukal na yan Mrs. attorney for the protection of bloggers. Rampant na kasi ang plagiarism ngayon ninanakaw an ideya ng mga bloggers. Mind you hindi ako blogger. Reader lang ako ng blogs. Karabao inglis lang kasi ang alam ko. Ni tagalog di ako masyado marunong. Kun puwede lang sana mag blog ng bikol ayos na ayos lang. Any way, kung ano man ang award ng korte baka puwede mo bigay na lang sa Gawad Kalinga para magka bahay man lang ang sabi ng gobyerno na “informal settlers” kuno!
Oh Connie, I can feel you seething and perhaps fuming as you wrote this post. I am so sorry to learn about this. My goodness, this is one of the most disrespectful things people could do.
Having posts published online does not guarantee not having these things plagiarized but there is what we call respect. And a little or none of it does not go unnoticed. So what do you do now?
Well you always have our respect, Connie. I have long since accepted that media and ethics don’t go together.
Sorry to hear about this, Connie.
I clicked on the link and read the press release published in the MB food section. I don’t know, but I have a strong feeling that it was the publicist of Gerry’s Grill who gave this recipe to MB Society ed Ethel Timbol (after doing some minor rewriting). So maybe it was not MB per se that was at fault here. (When section editors are flooded with tons of press releases from different companies, it is awfully hard to fact-check everything.)
No by-line was used. So I think this recipe was part of the Food Notes section of the Society page. Normally, recipes from different restos and hotels are featured here (recipes are regularly provided by public relations managers/officers).
Just curious, were your pictures also used by MB as well?
P.S. If you want me to check the story behind this, I’m just an e-mail away.
You wrote: “besides, a newspaper has a batallion of paid writers. if these writers will simply surf the net for materials they can republish, what the hell are they getting paid for?”
I seriously think that it was a case of a Gerry’s Grill press release published in the food section, and not an original food article supposedly penned by an MB reporter. (But I may be wrong, of course. However, I know for a fact that the Society staff don’t surf for food recipes since they already get besieged with press releases from food establishments clamoring for precious newspaper space.)
So maybe, it will help to know who’s the person behind the Gerry’s Grill press release….
Now you know why I steer clear from PR people in general (why should I compromise my journalistic integrity for a freebie?). As a journalist, I never trusted them (publicists) fully.
this must be the price of fame and being good at what you do. How many times have this happened to you already? Some people are just plain lazy.
Eh, ano ba yan? Gagaya lang di pa maging creative! Sana nagpaalam na lang siya sa’yo!
I hope everything will turn out well.
Connie, days ago I came across this website that copied some of your recipes. The pictures are familiar so I checked it out at your food blog and same nga. I couldnt find your e-mail and I was on a rush I actually forgot about it..until I saw the bulalo post on another blogger’s website.
Ayayay! Not only is it unethical, it’s stupid to copy one’s work and claim it as their own- online! Where anyone can and will see it. I guess they underestimated your readers’ memory power.
I understand your rage. Kung sa trabaho nga, if someone takes the credit for everything from someone else’s labor/effort galit na ako eh.
But I hope they come to their senses and give an public apology.
Ayayay! Not only is it unethical, it’s stupid to copy one’s work and claim it as their own- online! Where anyone can and will see it. I guess they underestimated your readers’ memory power.
I understand your rage. Kung sa trabaho nga, if someone takes the credit for everything from someone else’s labor/effort galit na ako eh.
But I hope they come to their senses and give a public apology.
Hi Connie,
Gosh, if I were you, I would demand a public apology at least…but you are right, they will probably never do it. You know how I feel about these things so suffice it to say I would want a photo of the offender sitting in a large boiling cauldron of bulalo…then we could all blog about it…
Marketman
As a commenter on MarketMan’s site I was mad about how a blogger can simply lift articles – real and imagined – out of thin air and post them for the public to see, tweak, copy, ridicule – all for free. This was particularly painful since I’ve spent years studying food with the missionary zeal of james bond embarking on a secret mission. And imagine my disdain when someone out of the blue has the audacity to print proprietary material for the whole world to see. Painful though it was, I’ve learned to live with it. Setting aside my pain, frustration, and disillusion – I think you should too.
Please spare me the legal arguments as I am sure you can twist and turn logic. Pero please naman, keep in mind that the food material you are blogging was once somebody elses family secret – probably passed on from lola to mother to apo.
Surf, copy, paste, cut, delete, move, add a few words here and there, publish…. How much lower can they get? It is downright ugly.
@Marketman, and we can light the fire under the cauldron and stir the broth together. LOL
aridelros, READ AGAIN. I never claimed ownership over the bulalo recipe. I claim ownership over my written work. That’s not a legal argument even; just logic.
I just saw Cathy’s name below. I think she committed a mistake partly my fault. Maybe she misinterpreted me when I said that we both worked on PMN. Help as in helping each other.
Why didn’t she respond to my email then when I asked her? I gave her a chance to explain before writing publicly about the issue.
I have no idea. I would have known if she received it or not. She would have told me.
I’m not a lawyer but i think its illegal to xerox a book under copyright law. Pure and simple theft. Tell that to the author who slaved. Suck it up. You steal intellectual property, somebody steals from you. What goes around comes around. I apologize but I’m certain the attribution you’re searching for has benigno aquino printed on it. I’ve yet to see a blogger design a webpage with attribution features. Sorry, but if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck – it certainly isnt a hippo. My two cents
aridelros, “its illegal to xerox a book under copyright law.”
yes, it is.
“You steal intellectual property, somebody steals from you.”
so, you’re insinuating what? say it straight.
It’s bad that they copied it, worse that they did a bad job of hiding it. I hope they acknowledge it. Though i won’t hold my breath on that. Just proves you’ve got good content / recipes here!
aridelros is trying so hard to sound intellectual. Stop it and keep your “two cents” worth of nincompoop somewhere else…
Sorry to hear this Connie. The last I heard, MB management was investigating this kahit masyado nang matagal. The different MB sections work independently of each other. JayRed should know how the system in Lifestyle goes since she worked there before. It would be very unfortunate indeed if the Gerry’s Grill publicist sent this and MB has to take the blame (again)
In all probability, this was a generic press release; hence, your recipe could have been also published in other newspapers and magazines. Gerry’s Grill management should also be held accountable, they should be publicizing the recipes and procedures followed by their chefs, and not by you. But I guess the Gerry’s Grill publicist/writer was too lazy to bother.
P.S. What’s a Napa variety cabbage anyway? Can I find it in my palengke? LOL.
The absence of jurisprudence around this grey area makes everything moot and academic. All I know is it was painful to sweat, blood and tears in my culinary quests. And to have some geek post this on the Net made it even more absurd. You will have to forgive me as my feelings dont think. Kneejerk reaction.
But it does come across as duplicity when a blogger cries foul for quid pro quo on someone elses material
SassyLawyer, I dont really think you are at fault here – its just the utter lack of legal ground covering bloggers and the sphere they circulate in. For some its ethics, but for most, its opportunity
Ajay, it’s heartening to know that Manila Bulletin is investigating it. This is so emotionally exhausting for me but, perhaps, the real problem is that policy of publishing press releases as news/feature articles. It sucks, really, because how can the editors vouch for articles that their own reporters did not write?
Jayred, I read your comment much earlier and thank you. I was tempted but I was also thinking that it might get you in trouble. Part of me wants to put this all behind. Part of me still sees blood. I read Harry Potter over the weekend to calm down. And I just felt like war even more. LOL
aridelros, re: “But it does come across as duplicity when a blogger cries foul for quid pro quo on someone elses material.”
time for retractions is over. you’re insinuating something. can’t you be man enough to say what you really mean? this wishy-washy this-and-that-direction is really lame.
“Jayred, I read your comment much earlier and thank you. I was tempted but I was also thinking that it might get you in trouble. Part of me wants to put this all behind. Part of me still sees blood. I read Harry Potter over the weekend to calm down. And I just felt like war even more. LOL”
I heard that taking garlic pills on a daily basis greatly reduces hypertension.
And yes, don’t eat bulalo at Gerry’s Grill. LOL
(Corporate PR people…hay. I didn’t really like them and their sometimes wily ways, and I guess they didn’t like me, too. But that was okay. My former editor knew my stand about this, so that was okay. LOL.)
*****
BTW, years ago, I saw some of my articles republished in company newsletters and even in an insurance company’s diary planner. And no credit was given to me or to MB. Hay buhay.
*****
Ajay wrote: “Gerry’s Grill management should also be held accountable, they should be publicizing the recipes and procedures followed by their chefs, and not by you.”
Amen to this.
i just red this thing now..i know its really too late of me to comment, but i would like get my whole-hearted sympathy across.. For me and tons of my friends here in Kuwait (whom i’ve shared your site)— IKAW ANG ORIGINAL na ‘PINOY COOK’!
May karma naman eh, leave it na lang in god’s hands
I hope everything will be ok soon…
PS. I’ve finished reading HP’s 7th book. Mukhang hindi yata bagay sa mood mo right now na yun ang basahin kase medyo rebellious..hehehe
aridelros got his ass kicked at marketmanila! yahoo!
What was done to your bulalo recipe was really ugly. But, not to downplay your reaction, let me share info on where to get good, reasonably prized bulalo and that is at “Aviles” located along the National Highway – left side on the way to Los Baños – very near the toll entrance (on the way to Manila).
As of last month, it was Two Hundred Fifty per order of a big bowl that should be good for 3 ladies (with good appetite) and all the sabaw you want. Unfortunately, as of my last visit the other viands were not so good.
D’viñas’ buko pies are also good because they seemed to have scrimped on sugar but there’s enough buko meat to make it tasty. Get the ones in the white boxes, not the cheaper ones in the green boxes (to be sold on the buses).
sam i read it the weekend after i found out about the rip-off LOL
Lee, which entry? Couldn’t find it?
Thanks for the tips, Grace.
Connie, natural lang na you feel violated dahil sa ‘yo ‘yon eh. stealing, in any form, is vile and vicious. para sa ‘kin, fight for what is righfully yours. oo nga’t may karma pero if you don’t stand up for your rights then who will?
kaya sige Connie, ipaglaban mo ang karapatan mo at nandito lang kami. mag-iintay ng pa-miryenda mo… =)
here… http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/a-special-ruby-dinner-part-iii
sa comments portion.
cai, alam mo it always pays to take the battle on a higher level. in fact, all this has encouraged me to push through with my cookbook project.
Lee, thanks. I saw it already hehehehe what as asshat.
Been a long time reader of this blog.
FYI I was browsing through this girl, Mae Uy’s facebook account and saw her using your lumpia shanghai pictures.
Wow. Way to go Manila Bulletin. Sino ba editor ng Lifestyle section? Hmm
Kainis. Every time I disappear for more than a week, something “interesting” happens in the blogosphere. hehe
thanks for dropping by my blog…
seems like Manila Bulletin better shape up.. you think we can combine our complaints and make a stronger case?
Anton, I think we should make it a continuing effort. Set up a blog perhaps and consolidate all rip off incidents there.
Connie!
Thats is a good idea! will contact you on that.. in the meantime, i already wrote the editor in chief of Manila Bulletin and included your complaint.
will update you.. have asked for a formal meeting with him.. do you want to join me in the meeting?
Connie,
Thanks finally found this. Sorry for the initial bother. My mistake: I used “Legal issues” tag.
Am working kasi on the health and wellness section of PMN, and may need to consult you on some legal stuff there. Will e-mail you privately.
Hi there
We have setup http://www.copyright.ph for those people that need to get their story out and need protection from copyright violators that infringe on our basic rights..
Help us build the site by adding your stories to the list so we can educate and get our stories out and hopefully put a stop to all these copyright infringment.
http://www.copyright.ph
Hi Anton. Thanks, I’ll be registering and posting my saga.
hallo connie,
alam mo di ako marunong sa computer,my husband only thought me a bit how to open and to browse, pero ng mabasa ko ang pinoy cook mo i became too intersted one time i asked permission from you kung pwede mai print ang recipe na gusto ko, kasi malabo ang mata ko di ko nga maisulat ,pero i tried some, kahit na sumakit mata ko.at ngayon nabasa ko ang ibang tao pala sa galing sa computer nagiging stupido pa huwag naman.igalang naman ang pinag paguran ng iba yon lang, di ka siguro maniniwala nauubos ko oras ko kababasa ng mga gawa mo pati ni Sam feel ko na masaya kayong mag anak, sana ma meet kita kung mauuwi ako dyan i am from Cabanatuan City may Veneracion din akong friends doon baka relatives mo din sa Hamburg ako nakatira okey thanks hayaan mo ang MANG UMIT PANGIT just for you to smile.
ED
Hi Connie,
My name is Miguel Camus from the BusinessMirror. Your blog caught me interest because my colleagues and I are currently doing a story on online literary plagiarism and you seem to be a victim of such a thing.
I’d just like to ask you a few details through email if that’s ok with you. I’ve left it i your site and hope to hear from you soon.
Regards
Miguel Camus
BusinessMirror