Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Some Chefs Still Insisting That Photographing Meals Steals Some Of Their Intellectual Property
Techdirt: A few years ago we noted how there appeared to be a growing belief among some chefs that taking photographs of their dishes when you're in their restaurants is somehow "taking away their intellectual property." We've discussed a few times about how restaurants are just one of many industries where a lack of copyright protection has actually helped innovation flourish (read: an industry that shows that there can be great creativity without saddling the entire apparatus down with copyright, such as magic or stand up comedy).
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3 comments:
It is a little silly for people to be so worked up over the whole intellectual property thing. Like what writer said at the end, it's not like by taking a photograph of the meal will produce the entire recipe for anyone to see. But then again, serious cooking is an art form, and you aren't allowed to take pictures in most museums. I feel like it is okay, as long as the person posting the photos does a halfway decent job of it and then advertises for the restaurant/cook to make sure that people know that they didn't make it. It is the whole "cite your sources" thing that they nail into our heads since the beginning of time in English classes.
For the most part, I agree that this is quite a silly issue. I can somewhat sympathize with chef RJ Cooper that some restaurant patrons do a poor job of photographing the dishes, which would suck, but this is not always the case. I am not a connoisseur of food blogs, so I may be wrong about this, but my understanding is that most food bloggers take photos because they admire the dishes. And then go on to write flattering reviews. This free marketing would seem a win for chefs and restaurants. I think G Thompson’s comment “Australia must be Opposite Land” in which he(?) describes the TV reality show “My Kitchen Rules” helps put the argument in perspective.
While I do agree that calling "foodtography" a theft of intellectual property is a little bit of an overreaction, I can also sort of see the point that these chefs are making. Even if a photo doesn't reveal the recipe or ingredients behind a particular dish, the arrangement or visual aesthetic of said food could potentially be copied by others. If you consider high cuisine to be an art form, like Kristen suggests, it could in some considerations be a copyright issue. At the same time, it does seem like the photographs of the food product simply end up being a pretty good advertisement for the restaurant or the cook anyway.
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