Plagiarism of another kind

These days plagiarism is so common, that if you come across any site with your pictures and copied recipes, you feel angry. You may even write to the website / blog author for disciplinary actions but on second thought you feel, are those sites really worth of a second look and we seem to only add to their blog traffic.

When I started my blog, I did not know much about plagiarism and related actions to be taken. But as time went by, I came across several sites where my pictures and posts are copied verbatim without giving due credit to my blog.

Initially I did not know what to do, and wrote to those sites, some have removed the copied posts and pictures and some sites still carry them. It seems these people do not have enough decency to acknowledge your hard work and Plagiarism has become a daily affair to them, what we call in Bengali "Jol Bhaat" (meaning a simple case like water and rice).

So these days, if I see my pictures in some other blogs & website, I really do not care anymore.

But imagine, if you see your picture being published in a leading newspaper (that too a leading Bengali Newspaper, Ananda Bazar Patrika) without your consent and giving due credit, I bet you will get flustered and angry.

original picture

Last Saturday�s 28-Aug-2010 edition of �Utsav� (A supplement of ABP), carried an article on �Posto�, titled �Emon Gotimoi Ghorsoyar rannaghore aar dwitwiyoti nei� by Goutam Chakraborty. My picture of Aloo Jhinge Posto was published in that article as a "Posto" dish.

The picture has been modified in such a way that the recipe name and my blog�s name was removed from the picture to look like an altogether different picture.

I have already written to the Editor of the leading Daily and awaiting clarification from their end.

So my fellow bloggers, besides keeping a tab on blogs and websites, start keeping a track on your local newspaper, maybe you'll find yourself in my position in coming days....

You can check the following links too...

Plagiarism - Once Again

Caught in the Act

Plagiarism - Be Aware!!!

Plagiarism - Once Again

Another case of plagiarism. As these days, I am not very regular in posting and also cannot check the site regularly. But surely this is not the post I intended to write about. Just today, I happen to update some posts, found a comment left by an anonymous visitor that my post on Calcutta Chicken Roll has been copied in a Pakistani recipe site, pakistanifoodrecipes.com launched on Monday, June 22, 2009.

My post on Calcutta Chicken Roll (post on Mar 8 2009), has been copied verbatim in the site with the post name as Calcutta Kati Roll � Kolkata Chicken Roll

Even the picture has been copied. Though they have carefully erased the mark on the picture, one can still understand that it�s my picture. My site name has been written but no credit / linking has been provided.

After some more browsing, I found 2 more of my posts have been copied:

1. Honey, Lime and Mint Iced Tea as Honey Lime Mint Iced Tea
2. Stuffed Dahi Wada, copied as Stuffed bread dahi baray

The picture of Stuffed Dahi Was even shows my site name. Though in the post, my site name is mentioned but no linking is provided.

I happen to check some more pictures and came across posts copied from Srivalli's site, Cooking 4 all Seasons and another site, Tasty Indian Food.

• Srivalli's Stuffed Aloo Parathas as Aallo ka Parantha
• Kesar Rasgulla from tastyindianfood.com as Zafrani Rasgulla

I have left a message at the site. I have asked them to either credit with my site link or remove these posts altogether.

Some days back Ivy�s work was copied, check her post on Plagiarism.

Fellow bloggers, pl check if any of your posts have been copied in this site.
Hope these people stop copying our work once and for all.

Some more copied works at Samayal Blog

Some people just don't learn from their mistakes....

Well Sarmila of Samayal Blog copied my Eggs in Milk recipe and wrote as Egg curry with Milk.
After my notification, she changed the recipe with a new one, which I stated in my earlier post.

Still not satisfied, I happened to browse further and came across this site, Indian Cooking by Sagari. She wrote about Egg Korma with coconut milk and to my surprise the new recipe at Samayal Blog is none other than the recipe of Sagari (I found out her copied work through spelling mistake of turmeric). I have notified Sagari also on this....

You can find Sagari's recipe out here:
1) Egg Korma with coconut milk
2) Same recipe at Sify by Sagari, Egg Korma

And moreover, lots of other recipes are copied from various food sites as mentioned below:

1. Fabulous Fruit Salad
   Fabulous Fruit Salad at Samayal Blog, copied from here Summer Fruit Salad
2. Dal Biryani
   Dal Biryani at Samayal Blog, copied from Hungryzone (she even attached the same picture)...
3. Fried Banana
   Fried Banana at Samayal Blog copied from Bonbini
4. Finger Fish
   Finger Fish at Samayal Blog, copied from Indiaexpress
5. Easy Mushroom Gravy
   Easy Mushroom Gravy at Samaya Blog, copied from Mushroom Masala Curry

It seems all her articles and posts are copied from some blogs or sites with no credits for the original writer.

My request, pl check the site and see if any of your recipes are copied there.

Caught in the Act

Well folks, I didn't think my post on plagiarism will have such a quick effort on Sarmila, the writer of Samayal Blog.

Just now, she changed the whole recipe of Egg Curry with Milk, my word-word copied version of Eggs in Milk, replaced milk with coconut milk (how convenient and so very original!!!!).

But maybe she do not know that the name of the post is still the same "http://www.samayalblog.com/index.php/egg/egg-curry-with-milk", coz even if you edit / modify your post & post title, the original post title (code) remains the same.

I notified the writer by posting a comment on the original post, she smartly deleted my comment and modified my recipe as stated below:

Ingredients:

• 100 gms / 4 eggs
• 2 cups water (to boil eggs)
• 1 cup / 250 ml milk
• 4 tbsp onion paste (2-3 large onions, made into a paste)
• 2 tsp ginger paste
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 green chilli
• 2 tbsp white oil
• 1 � tsp salt (to taste)
• 1 bunch fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
  
  

Method:

1. Add water and pressure-cook the eggs till 3 whistles. Drain water and de-shell the boiled eggs. Make 4 small slits with a knife on the outer edge of the eggs. Keep aside.
2. Chop the onions, put in a blender with a green chilli. Add 1 tbsp of water and blend to form a smooth paste.
3. Heat oil in non-stick deep bottomed pan / kadhai. Reduce flame and add the onion � chilli paste. Saute a little (make sure that the paste do not turn brown).
4. Add the ginger & garlic paste and stir well.
5. Gradually add the milk and keep stirring continuously. Add salt to taste and mix well.
6. Release the eggs in the gravy. Increase the flame and let the gravy thicken a bit. (You can add � cup water, if required).
7. Remove from flame and transfer the eggs in the serving bowl. Pour the gravy on top.
8. Garnish with the chopped fresh coriander leaves. Serve with stuffed paranthas & green salads

with the following:



Ingredients:

• eggs (boiled)
• 2 cloves
• 2 cinnamon
• 2 cardamom
• 1 cup chopped bell peppers
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 tbs ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp turmuric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 cups coconut milk
• salt
• 4 to 5 green chillis (slit)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 4 tbs oil

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan add cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves
• Add sliced onion, sprinkle salt and sautee until golden in colour
• Now add slit green chillis, cilantro and ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 min.
• Add chopped bell peppers, coriander powder, garam masala, turmuric powder, mix everything and add boiled eggs.
• Add coconut milk and simmer for 10 min
• Adjust salt
• Ready to serve

The recipe name only suggested that the dish is to be white in colour, Eggs is Milk (or as Sarmila called it Egg Curry with Milk).

Suddenly the whole recipe is changed to something else altogether.....and the new ingredients are just not justifying the name.....adding coconut milk, turmeric, coriander powder etc. .....

Hey all!! Pl check if this new recipe matches with some of your recipes or not.

Plagiarism - Be Aware!!!

Friends, these days I am not getting enough time for blogging but always following the nice recipes of you fellow bloggers.

Just the other day, while checking Sanghi's blog, Sanghi's Food Delights!, I came across a note on Plagiarism and her writing on one person hosting a food blog named 'Samayal Blog'.

Her Classic Chicken photo was copied and put as Bachelor chicken and the writer Sarmila has even sent it to an event First Cooked Food Event, hosted by Shama.

As a victim of plagiarism, we all have every right to let others know that our posts (recipes) were stolen and reproduced as someone's own work! These days, I think everyone knows how much time and effort goes into writing a post. I always thought, whren I started blogging, if this were to happen to me, I�d be upset, hurt and didn't have any idea of what to do.

Well just out of curiosity, I happened to browse through the other posts of this Samayal Blog, and came across this post on Eggs, a post called "Egg Curry with Milk"on 30th June, I am shocked to see that it is an exact copy of my post on "Eggs in Milk", a unique dish which I learnt from my mother-in-law.

She has left out my introduction to the dish, but has copied the ingredients measurements and procedure word to word to the last details.

I have put a word to the person, let's see if it's removed.

I do feel for Sanghi...and would suggest all my fellow bloggers, to check this site, Samayal Blog, and notify the person, if any of your recipes / photos are copied there....

This Eggs in Milk recipe is after my heart, as it was one of my chosen recipes for School Meals, a programme of The World Food Programme (WFP), which I sent to Bloggeraid.

So let's join in fighting plagiarism and put a stop to this never ending theft of our posts...