Cake Ideas, is it Stealing????
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Gretchen Belsome on
-
I hope I am not ruffling to many feathers by bringing this up!!! I am loving everyones input on this subject. I do think that we are all inspired to do things we never thought we could when we see someones elses work, and want to do it also.
I do think that the cake world has been so exposed to people, that they think everyone can do everything everyone else is doing, and that it looks so easy on TV and don't really know the true cost. I am just a hobby baker and do cakes for my family and friends. I hate to say no, and love to try new things.
I am making a cake for next weekend that my friends daughter wants, and it is someone elses idea, they found it on the internet and emailed me the picture, not really sure where it even came from. I am not putting all the elements on it, and I would think I will have my own creative spin to it, but at the same time I want it to look like what her daughter wants and I hope it goes that way. I hope I do the origin designer justice with what ever I come up with.
-
Permalink Reply by Bonnie Moses on
-
What kind of lawyer did you use. Not even sure what to look under, except maybe Corp.??
-
Permalink Reply by Dawn Becker on
-
Bottom line: I never take credit for anything - ANYTHING. Every last "idea" we have is inspired by someone else. There is not a single new idea in this world. Even new technology is based on a Sci-Fi idea from years and years ago. How many times have we seen cell phone-like technology in old black and whites and even silent films? Look at HG Wells – he described a flying machine – but the Wright Brothers get all the credit.
So I say things like, This is MY version of a Martha Stewart Cake I saw. or - I saw this on Amazing Cakes and thought I'd try a downsized version. or - I was surfing the net and combined about 4 different ideas I saw. If I post a cake on this site based on something I saw here I might say, I loved JJ's cake - thought I'd try my hand at it. Thanks for the inspiration, JJ! But to my outside world (who doesn't know JJ) I would simply say I found it on the internet.
And lastly -here I may post - saw a similar cake on Cake Central, here's my version. But again to the world, got the idea off an internet search.
It's not rocket science, people. There is no IDEA we invented. Which is what the original poster asked about:
Cake Ideas, is it Stealing????
Since there is no such thing as an original idea - what is the answer to THAT question?
If we stop using already thought up ideas, we can all stop making cakes today... and sewing (all suits and wedding dresses look basically the same), and cars (all cars look basically the same, think about it), and washing machines (and they differ how?), and building houses (I think they all have at least four walls and roof)... yeah - it is all the same philosophy. And yes, even cakes look alike – even when you put your own spin on it – it’s still looks like many, many others.
I am the only one I know that uses a stick to smooth my rose petal and other flowers edges. Did I invent this idea? I highly doubt it. I betcha someone out there is already doing it and has been for quite awhile even though I’m the only one I know of.
OH!! Sharon Z. Many things on her videos that she gets all this credit for I've been doing for years before she came along - and a couple of those things I "thought of" on my own (read sentence above for qualifier) - but she gets credit from every one - "OH! I use the Sharon Z method" - "you should try the Sharon Z method!!."
Not picking on you Sharon - you know I love you - you are just a really handy public example. And she is actually very gracious and never says it’s her idea to begin with. It’s simply the way she does it. Other people call it the Sharon Z way.
Look up any Emeril Recipe and I can show you at least 10 that are so close to exactly just like it. But he gets the credit for recipes that have existed for long before he came along.
Again - no original idea exists - even if you think you invented it - I'm willing to bet someone out there is already doing it just exactly that way. I've seen it too many times for myself.
A lingerie cake is a lingerie cake – I’ve made 3 over a period of maybe 10 years – two pink and one black leather – it’s still a lingerie cake. And how many pink ones came before mine, and how many came before those?
-
-
The very fact that you are not the original persomn who made the cake will make it a different cake. You have different hands, differnt tempermant, different levels of humidity in your kitchen. It's not going to match 100% no matter what you do.
Take the idea, run with it - do the best you can and be happy!! It may even turn out better.
Gretchen Belsome said:I am making a cake for next weekend that my friends daughter wants, and it is someone elses idea, they found it on the internet and emailed me the picture, not really sure where it even came from. I am not putting all the elements on it, and I would think I will have my own creative spin to it, but at the same time I want it to look like what her daughter wants and I hope it goes that way. I hope I do the origin designer justice with what ever I come up with.
-
-
Thanks Dawn for all your insight.... and encouragement!!!
-
Permalink Reply by Anne Drew on
-
Your clients are paying the bill, you give your clients what they want. Regarding competitions, come up with something original. I know all the sugarcraft techniques are basically the same but when you look at how many notes there are in music to come up with different symphonies just look at what the great masters and and popular music have done and still do. It is really satisfying to think that the art in your cake is all your own, they was you have put the sugarcraft techniques together for a competiton.
-
-
Agreed!! I do get a little nasty in my head when I see cakes at competitions that were just recently on covers of magazines. Especially when I see a first prize ribbon hanging on them!!
Anne Drew said:Your clients are paying the bill, you give your clients what they want. Regarding competitions, come up with something original. I know all the sugarcraft techniques are basically the same but when you look at how many notes there are in music to come up with different symphonies just look at what the great masters and and popular music have done and still do. It is really satisfying to think that the art in your cake is all your own, they was you have put the sugarcraft techniques together for a competiton.
-
Permalink Reply by Rosemary Galpin on
-
I thought I'd add my two cents to this discussion because I've been on both sides of the fence. This is an example of BEING COPIED. A bride took a photo of one of my cakes from Brides Magazine to a baker on the east coast and asked her to copy it for her wedding. The baker did not know me when she posted the photo on cakecentral.com. Several members recognized it, let her know, and she quickly gave me credit which I appreciated. I actually got my inspiration from three pieces of fabric from Walmart and I was quick to credit them as well. I can honestly say that I did not feel cheated or stolen from. I agree with Lisa Duff. There are only so my techniques and mediums you can use on a cake. You may think you created an original but it has probably been done to some extent by someone before you. I challenge any baker to honestly say that they are NEVER influenced by cakes they see or techniques they learn from others. As long as we put our own spin on the cakes we bake, and give credit where credit is due, I say consider it a compliment to your talent!
-
-
This is one of my competition cakes at the OSSAS last year. I fell in love with one of Susan Trianos' cakes on cakecentral. I could not get the "little puffs" out of my mind. I contacted her, told her how much I loved her work, and asked if she would mind if I used the technique at Oklahoma. She could not give me instructions because she was doing a "how to" article for CC magazine at the time, but she gave me her blessing to make my own version for competition. I blended the single technique with four other tiers of my own design. You can plainly see that even though our puff styles are similar, the cakes themes are totally different. Saying that I "copied" Susan because of a single technique, would be like saying that everyone that uses Marina Sousa's hanging jewels is "stealing" from her designs. I hope to one day inspire bakers to purchase tools or techniques I market myself!
-
-
Love your work....Those puffs are awesome, I have never seen those. What is that called? Is there "How to" out there now. Thanks for sharing your toughts on the subject.
-
-
Hi Gretchen,
Thank you for the compliment. Because of the ongoing publishing and distribution problems Cake Central magazine is experiencing, I have yet to see the "how to" they asked Susan to do for them. I fashioned mine from a 50/50 mix of gumpaste and fondant, pleating little squares and applying them individually. I look forward to the article to see how close we are in technique.
Rosemary
Popular Cake Searches
© 2024 Created by Theresa Happe.
Powered by
