Is it unethical to sell soap using someone else's recipe?

[mistepp23]

I haven't done it, and I have no plans to, but the problem occurred to me. Is it enough to give credit where credit is due?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[debbism]

I would say, yes it is unethical. But that is only my opinion. If i am going to sell a soap as my creation, it is going to be 100% my own.

I do have to say that it is very satisfying to create a recipe on your own that makes you happy that you love. When that happens, the soap becomes special

 

[Fragola]

Depends how you got the recipe. If that somebody has shared the recipe, they likely have done this assuming that people will use it.

 

[Genny]

If they didn't give the recipe to you knowing that you were going to sell them, then I think so.

 

[lsg]

If someone has posted a recipe on the Internet, then they should assume people will use it. If the recipe is even slightly changed, then it will be your own. This happens all of the time with food recipes. Having said that, it is not that hard to create your own wonderful recipes using SoapCalc. I started out using recipes I found on the internet after running them through SoapCalc. Then I started creating my own recipes. It is much more fun.

 

[carebear]

If someone posts out to the general public, I say yes you can use it. If someone posts on a forum, with a membership, then I'd say you need to communicate with the person who posted it.

Nothing is 100% our own - we all build on the experience of others, and you cannot forget things you've read.

One of my favorite recipes I got from another forum - Craftserver (it's since been taken down). I didn't feel right about just selling it, and when I asked for her thoughts on it she was no longer on the forum and I couldn't find her. I decided that since I couldn't get her input I'd put my own spin on it.

 

[semplice]

If you find a recipe on the internet that you like, and you turn around and sell it - I don't see that as being unethical. Once something gets put out there in cyberspace it's fair game. Now, if someone shared their "secret" formula with you, and then you went out selling it as if it were YOURS, then that'd be a little shady.

 

[Guest]

Re: Is it unethical to sell soap using someone else's recipe

I haven't done it, and I have no plans to, but the problem occurred to me. Is it enough to give credit where credit is due?

Thanks,
Michael

Is it unethical? It depends on your ethics. What do YOU think?

 

[Guest]

If you find a recipe on the internet that you like, and you turn around and sell it - I don't see that as being unethical. Once something gets put out there in cyberspace it's fair game.

That is quite simply false.

There are many instances where the "something" in question is protected, either by copyright, trademark, or patent. Simply because it can be found on the internet does not revoke these protections.

 

[IrishLass]

I agree 100% with those who say that if a recipe is posted publicly to one and all, then it's perfectly okay to use and sell. Whenever I've posted my own recipes to the general public, I've freely done so because I just felt like sharing- 'freely' meaning that I posted them with the full knowlege and expectation that they will be used and possibly even be sold. And I'm perfectly fine with that. I mean- what a complement! If it were otherwise, I most certainly wouldn't have posted them.

Nothing is 100% our own - we all build on the experience of others, and you cannot forget things you've read.

+1


IrishLass

 

[semplice]

If you find a recipe on the internet that you like, and you turn around and sell it - I don't see that as being unethical. Once something gets put out there in cyberspace it's fair game.

That is quite simply false.

There are many instances where the "something" in question is protected, either by copyright, trademark, or patent. Simply because it can be found on the internet does not revoke these protections.

Maybe I wasn't clear. If I use a recipe found in the recipe section of this site that someone posted, I don't need to ask permission to use it. The poster shared it willingly for all to use. I just started making CP soap three months ago, and several of the recipes I've used I got from a book or online. I wouldn't run around telling people I made the recipe up, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with using them.

 

[JaimeC]

Each and every recipe I have made has been from plugging in what oils I have on hand and messing around with %s until I come out with something I would like to try. Being that I only have common oils I 'play' with, and use standard usage rates, Im guessing someone else has made the exact same recipe at some point or another before I have. Knowingly or not, I dont feel that selling something you made using someone elses recipe, unless otherwise stated not to, is ethically wrong.

Selling the actual recipe itself, however, is a bit uncouth.

Jaime

 

[Guest]

If you find a recipe on the internet that you like, and you turn around and sell it - I don't see that as being unethical. Once something gets put out there in cyberspace it's fair game.

That is quite simply false.

There are many instances where the "something" in question is protected, either by copyright, trademark, or patent. Simply because it can be found on the internet does not revoke these protections.

Maybe I wasn't clear. If I use a recipe found in the recipe section of this site that someone posted, I don't need to ask permission to use it. The poster shared it willingly for all to use. I just started making CP soap three months ago, and several of the recipes I've used I got from a book or online. I wouldn't run around telling people I made the recipe up, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with using them.

Yup, agreed.
However, when you say

Once something gets put out there in cyberspace it's fair game.

That goes a bit afield. There is a lot of Public Domain information out there, and soap recipes on this site probably qualify,

 

[semplice]

If you find a recipe on the internet that you like, and you turn around and sell it - I don't see that as being unethical. Once something gets put out there in cyberspace it's fair game.

That is quite simply false.

There are many instances where the "something" in question is protected, either by copyright, trademark, or patent. Simply because it can be found on the internet does not revoke these protections.

Maybe I wasn't clear. If I use a recipe found in the recipe section of this site that someone posted, I don't need to ask permission to use it. The poster shared it willingly for all to use. I just started making CP soap three months ago, and several of the recipes I've used I got from a book or online. I wouldn't run around telling people I made the recipe up, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with using them.

Yup, agreed.
However, when you say

Once something gets put out there in cyberspace it's fair game.

That goes a bit afield. There is a lot of Public Domain information out there, and soap recipes on this site probably qualify,

I agree with you there. I should have written, "Once someone posts a personal recipe in cyberspace...."

 

[carebear]

recipes are not copyright protected per se.

 

[Amber]

I think it is wrong re-publish another person's recipe as your own even if you got it off the internet (breach of intellectual copyright?) unless you get the original author's permission. I however think that use of a recipe is acceptable on the basis that you made the product - I don't see that part as any different to using any different type of recipe from the internet or from a recipe book.

 

[Guest]

recipes are not copyright protected per se.

Correct, unless they are in some form of original work, like a cookbook or...a book on soap making. But copyright protection can't stop someone from making and selling that item, based on the recipe or formula. But...back to the original question...is that ethical? That depends on your ethics.

 

[Cuckoo Bananas]

I remember reading about this in a soap book from the library when i first started out and that particular author specified that you were freely allowed to make and sell soaps using her recipes but jut not to reproduce the recipes in another book without credit and permission.

 

[carebear]

I remember reading about this in a soap book from the library when i first started out and that particular author specified that you were freely allowed to make and sell soaps using her recipes but jut not to reproduce the recipes in another book without credit and permission.

that's the law too. so it works.

 

[carebear]

recipes are not copyright protected per se.

Correct, unless they are in some form of original work, like a cookbook or...a book on soap making. But copyright protection can't stop someone from making and selling that item, based on the recipe or formula. But...back to the original question...is that ethical? That depends on your ethics.

Judgmental much?

I read your posts about 100% olive oil soap. You probably didn't invent that idea. So I am assuming you wouldn't ever consider selling it.

ETA: locking the thread because I don't care to babysit it.