Bitchin' Blog Posts
Cook’s Source: When The Source is Plagiarized, The Source Should Feel Grateful - and Guilty
by SB Sarah | November 04, 2010 | Thursday at 5:17 pm | 58 CommentsI have this short write-up of links that are all feel-good and awesome with coulis, but first, let’s have some hot smoking asshattery. From many people comes this amazing series of links wherein Monica Gaudio, a writer and something of an expert on historical cookery, was plagiarized by a magazine, Cook’s Source, whose editor, Judith Griggs, believes the internet is public domain. So you don’t have to pay people whose words you steal, and moreover (wait for it… wait for it…) Monica should be grateful that Cook’s Source reprinted her article without permission or payment.
No, really. Cook’s Source lifted Monica Gaudio’s article on apple tarts from Gode Cookery. They put her name on it (thanks for small favors and all) but since they get paid by advertisers and Monica’s site surely does not, they profited off her words without permission or compensation. Smells like asshattery!
Here’s the blood-pressure raising part: after contacting them about it, Monica was asked by the editor of Cook’s Source what she wanted, and Monica replied that she “wanted an apology on Facebook, a printed apology in the magazine and $130 donation (which turns out to be about $0.10 per word of the original article) to be given to the Columbia School of Journalism.”
The reply Monica received from Judith Griggs is reprinted in part on her LiveJournal:
But honestly Monica, the web is considered “public domain” and you should be happy we just didn’t “lift” your whole article and put someone else’s name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me… ALWAYS for free!”
Oh, the sound of jaws dropping all over the internet. So not only should Monica compensate Cook’s Source for doing edits on an article they stole, Monica should feel proud that the plagiarism will look good in her portfolio AND she should feel a little guilt for having asked for a donation for a wealthy institution of learning. It’s a good thing Monica has friends in Live-Journally places to spread the word.
According to the Cook’s Source website, their “mission is to educate our readers in sustainable sources of foods and products.” My mission is to tell everyone who’s listening that Cook’s Source’s editor, Judith Griggs, is a complete fucking asshat who wouldn’t know copyright, plagiarism, or ethics if they were stolen from her handbag.
But here’s the fun part: do not plagiarize a person, then treat them dismissively and mock the ownership of the words they wrote on the internet…when you a Facebook page. Cook’s Source’s Facebook page has gone all Explodey with the ire, outrage, vitriol, and subtle mocking education that, no, no, Judith Griggs, the internet is not public domain. And you’re a complete fucking asshat.
And is news of this asshattery perpetrated by Judith Griggs on Twitter? Why do you ask these questions: Of Course It Is.
As much as I loathe plagiarism and editors who wouldn’t know ethics and copyright from a hole in their head, I love the internet. Cook’s Source, your editor Judith Griggs is a complete fucking asshat. Internet, I want to send you cookies.
ETA: Oh, sweet holy Moses, not only did they lift content from Monica and GodeCookery, but Food Network, head’s up: you’re in there,
much like Prego
. Sorry, no Prego-lagiarism, was making bad joke!
Also, your unintentional comedy moment of the day: they have a section called “Food Frauds.” Which, according to alert commenter Andrew Pritchard, was ripped off from WebMD. *headdesk*
Aaaaaaand there’s an entire Facebook page dedicated to tracking down the original articles they reprinted.
ETA PART DEUX: ELECTRIC GOOGLE-OO! It’s Google Bomb time for Judith Griggs. All you have to do: link the words “Judith Griggs” to http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/judithgriggs for fun and google-fu! Our new definition of Judith Griggs:
griggs
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): griggs’d
Pronunciation: gr\ i \gz
1. To use content on the web without permission, then request payment from original author for rewrites and editing.
2. To remain ignorant of plagiarism, ethics, copyright, and asshat behavior.
Example of usage: “Why’d you get an F on that essay?”
“I griggs’d the professor’s doctoral thesis from her website, and I even cleaned it up for her and told her she should give me an A, but she failed me anyway.”
The more who link, the higher our definition will be in the Google rankings. The more you link, the more plagiarism gets a royal assing, one asshat at a time. Play along—because plagiarism still sucks!
Filed: General Bitching, Ranty McRant
Tagged: wtfery, twitter, plagiarism, make the burning stop, facebook, copyright, asshattery, asshat, advice
Lori said on 11.04.10 at 05:37 PM • [comment link]
How in the name of Cthulhu does a person who thinks the internet is “public domain” get paid work as an editor?
Reneesance said on 11.04.10 at 05:44 PM • [comment link]
Wow I feel like I’m on the cutting edge I found this a half hour before this lovely article. Yes the internet is a mighty force for good, today at least.
Sharon said on 11.04.10 at 05:49 PM • [comment link]
If you really want to get her, notify FoodNetwork and whichever ginormous conglomerate owns Prego. They have buildings full of lawyers they pay just to smack down intellectual property thieves like this Judith Griggs person.
Donna said on 11.04.10 at 05:59 PM • [comment link]
Color me flabbergasted.
Brandi said on 11.04.10 at 05:59 PM • [comment link]
I’m just glad it’s not Cook’s Illustrated. I always liked their product reviews.
Maryann said on 11.04.10 at 06:09 PM • [comment link]
I live in the area where this…magazine…is published and I’d say it wasn’t so much a case of someone hiring her to be editor as it was of her deciding, “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to be a magazine editor?”
Celia said on 11.04.10 at 06:12 PM • [comment link]
You can tell Ms. Griggs is a professionl editor with three decades of personal experience by her professional attitude and knowledge of international copyright laws.
Ugh. Honestly, I suspect she only said everything on the internet is in the free domain because she hoped the original author wouldn’t know anything about copyright. Which is still stupid, because a five second Google search will reveal the truth, anyway.
And for goodness sake, what possessed her to write such a catty, patronizing email without first running it past a lawyer? If someone accuses you of plagiarism, you refer them to your legal department, you don’t send them an email in which you admit to plagiarizing their work. FAIL.
Lisa Hendrix said on 11.04.10 at 06:14 PM • [comment link]
Have you emailed Food Network directly? I would think their corporate lawyers would cream Judith Griggs and serve her over toast. Shit on a shingle.
Definitely GoogleBomb time. Also a post to Preditors and Editors.
various64: a reference to the variety and number of things that should be done to make her crawl back into the hole from whence she came.
Kristin said on 11.04.10 at 06:16 PM • [comment link]
Cook Source and that ass clown also klnown as Judith Griggs are going DOWN.
Dawn G said on 11.04.10 at 06:20 PM • [comment link]
Nothing like combining plagiarizing with really, really stupid. Wonder what Ms. Griggs’ response would be if someone lifted an article from her publication, “fixed” it and then reposted it with no compensation (or permission)?
What a total moron.
Sarah W said on 11.04.10 at 06:21 PM • [comment link]
Oh, sweet mother of holy cow.
I hope Ms. Griggs enjoys the taste of shoe leather and crow.
I’m just sitting back and enjoying the show, now.
Anyone want popcorn?
Tracy said on 11.04.10 at 06:21 PM • [comment link]
Wow.
I’d say I was surprised and all but, after trying to police several hundred college students who loved to quote the internet in their internet-source-free-dammit! term papers, I no longer am surprised by this sort of thing. I am delighted that she didn’t consult any attorneys though, as she needs to learn this lesson with a giant spanking.
Andrew said on 11.04.10 at 06:23 PM • [comment link]
Hey Smart Bitches:
The “Food Frauds” comedy moment is…. drumroll, please… also plagiarized. This time it’s WebMD they’re ripping off:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/slideshow-foods-that-can-wreck-your-diet
Is anything in this rag NOT ripped off from somewhere?
Ruth said on 11.04.10 at 06:30 PM • [comment link]
Want to beat that April Fulton of Shots, NPR’s Health Blog has no idea she’s been ripped off as well?
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=439516866748&set=a.439514776748.238553.196994196748&pid=5273809&id=196994196748#!/photo.php?fbid=439516876748&set=a.439514776748.238553.196994196748&pid=5273811&id=196994196748
Elysabeth said on 11.04.10 at 06:44 PM • [comment link]
just…. wow.
:: stands by for nerdrage and fallout ::
Patrice said on 11.04.10 at 06:44 PM • [comment link]
OMFG! My head just exploded. Seriously words fail me. Which is a good thing since apparantly the internet is public domain and anyone could and should happily lift them. HFS. Seriously my brain has exploded. Like that Saturday Night Live skit. If I wasn’t brain dead I’d lift that and use it here.
account88 - oh yes Virgina, just like Santa Claus, I do believe there will be an accounting! lol
P.N. Elrod said on 11.04.10 at 06:56 PM • [comment link]
Is anyone else wondering what ELSE Griggs has stolen to put in the magazine??
Might we have another CassieGate??
SB Sarah said on 11.04.10 at 06:58 PM • [comment link]
I’ve updated this entry and posted a new one - it’s Google Bomb time! Help us redefine Judith Griggs!
Ruth said on 11.04.10 at 07:08 PM • [comment link]
Here’s the link to the April Fulton article that looks like it is also lifted:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/09/27/130158014/ben-jerry-s-takes-all-natural-claims-off-ice-cream-labels
amberlynne said on 11.04.10 at 07:16 PM • [comment link]
You should check out the magazine’s Twitter. It is full of pompous sarcasm and fail like, “This is unfair. We’re adding value to someone’s article and getting zero credit for it,” and “The Internet obviously doesn’t know anything about copyright law.” http://twitter.com/cookssource
Ruth said on 11.04.10 at 07:20 PM • [comment link]
I think the Twitter feed is a spoof.
Donna said on 11.04.10 at 07:21 PM • [comment link]
I’ve got the link on my favorites so I can just keep clicking back to it while I sit on hold with assorted insurance companies today. What fun. Also, nice post on popehat.com you might want to check out.
ghn said on 11.04.10 at 07:22 PM • [comment link]
Is this ever exploding in Griggs’ face! Among others, John Scalzi has picked up this, and it has gone viral in no time at all!
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/11/04/the-stupidest-thing-an-editor-with-three-decades-of-experience-has-said-about-the-web-today/
fiscal32 - is that a hint to Griggs?
Lynne said on 11.04.10 at 07:25 PM • [comment link]
amberlynne, for what it’s worth, the @cookssource Twitter doesn’t have any entries older than a couple of hours ago, and appears to be a parody. @crookssource is worth a look, too ;) (I bet the former probably gets shut down when Twitter notices, or at least told to put “This is a parody, not a real Twitter controlled by Cooks Source” in the bio.)
Given Judith Griggs claims to have worked as an editor for over three decades, it sounds like she’s on the verge of forced retirement.
amberlynne said on 11.04.10 at 07:27 PM • [comment link]
Ha. I see now that it is a spoof. Yet another lesson on why you should claim your company’s name on social media sites even if you don’t plan on using them.
Alex said on 11.04.10 at 07:58 PM • [comment link]
This bleeds awesomeness. I hope Griggs is ready for the shitstorm that’s coming her way.
HikingYogini said on 11.04.10 at 08:00 PM • [comment link]
Utterly flabbergasted. My jaw did hit my desk when I read this. Everything on the web is public domain? What ancient computer has this editor been hiding under?
fightingwords said on 11.04.10 at 08:29 PM • [comment link]
It looks like Griggs also ripped off Paula Deen. One of her people commented on Facebook that she was notifying PD’s legal team.
Elysabeth said on 11.04.10 at 08:31 PM • [comment link]
Oh lawd… someone done pissed off the southern woman. Their grandchildren will feel that burn. LOL
Karenmc said on 11.04.10 at 08:53 PM • [comment link]
Holy moon pies!
short28: Ms. Griggs may only have a short 28 minutes of peace and quiet today.
MissFifi said on 11.04.10 at 09:11 PM • [comment link]
This woman is a moron and an asshat.
Yet again I think of a Law and Order CI episode where a lawyer is arrested for murder and the other who’s mistress was the murder victim is busted with plagiarism. DA Carver says: These two broke the first rule taught in law school. Never commit anything to paper.
Arethusa said on 11.04.10 at 09:48 PM • [comment link]
The tweets & fb page are comedy gold! I will sit back & be entertained.
Kerry said on 11.04.10 at 10:37 PM • [comment link]
Maybe this is petty, considering all that is going on, but surely there should be an apostrophe somewhere in Cooks Source?
Cook’s Source?
Cooks’ Source?
But Cooks Source doesn’t really make sense.
Lori said on 11.04.10 at 10:37 PM • [comment link]
Both John Scalzi and Neil Gaiman have picked this up and it’s hit the website of the Guardian. Griggs might as well clean out her desk now. When foreign publications have pulled up a chair and a tub of popcorn to watch the debacle you created for yourself, you’re done.
Wylykat said on 11.04.10 at 10:58 PM • [comment link]
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=196994196748&topic=23238
This link has other cooks source articles that have been “lifted” and their sources.
Lee said on 11.04.10 at 11:46 PM • [comment link]
Notice that she never said where she had “three decades of experience in publishing”. Wanna bet it was in the mailroom?
Kar said on 11.05.10 at 12:29 AM • [comment link]
LEAVE GRIGGS TO ME.
Seriously, this makes me think that a Copyright Law class should be required for those with Majors that tie in the Media. I’m a Designer-in-Training, so Plagiarism and not giving proper credit is a big thing. And it should be.
At any rate, I hope karma comes back to bite he in the ass, she really deserves it.
darlynne said on 11.05.10 at 12:53 AM • [comment link]
The Daily Dish of the LA Times has also picked up the story:
http://tinyurl.com/27sz2yr
Ann Somerville said on 11.05.10 at 01:56 AM • [comment link]
No, no. Something’s wrong. The SBs are exposing a clear cut case of plagiarism of the most egregious kind - and no one is defending the plagiarist? Or accusing the SBs of making her ill, or ruining her career for spite? No one is accusing Sarah of being a mean girl for posting about this?
This isn’t how these things are supposed to go, guys. I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you.
Or is the difference here that Griggs is a nobody, while Cassie Edwards has devoted fans and publishing contracts, which is the balm that soothes all injuries and wipes away all crimes? Could it possibly be that ::gasp:: the Internet community holds nobodies and famous people to different standards? Tell me it ain’t so!
katiebabs said on 11.05.10 at 02:33 AM • [comment link]
I blogged about this: http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/2010/11/and-wtfckery-douche-award-of-week-goes.html
and Griggs has responded on the Facebook site basically saying she doesn’t give two shits, nanny nanny poo poo we got over 1,000 new Facebook followers.
Douche. Total douche.
Kitrina said on 11.05.10 at 02:33 AM • [comment link]
I think that this is a fabulous mission and thought you might appreciate knowing that I’m passing this on to a friend who is a professor of Mass Communication Ethics. This will be sure to find a spot on her next syllabus.
GirlyNerd said on 11.05.10 at 03:28 AM • [comment link]
Add stealing peoples photos as well. A few of the pumpkin photos were lifted from various parts of the internet. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=439516966748&set=a.439514776748.238553.196994196748
Jesus, that’s the first thing they tell you in art school, don’t take anything off the fucking internet you untalented fucks. Look at the shit Shepherd Farley went though, and his art was just inspired by someones photo.
I say we scan every page of that god damn magazine. Then email it, upload it, and fucking post it on every pole in New York like fucking lost pet sign.
Shit.
meganhwa said on 11.05.10 at 04:17 AM • [comment link]
i love how she uses college students as an example to prove her point. There is so much wrong with that. First, yes sadly some university essays are often rife with plagarism but… err… a) that doesn’t make it right and b) i highly resent the fact that she is saying all college students plagarise. Pretty much every single course i have attended (which have ranged from chemistry to molecular biology to media communications) has started off with “plagarism is bad, its illegal and immoral. If we catch anyone plagarising you will be fined heavily - at least in terms of grades” and its only the really lazy students that plagarise - though perhaps she fell into that category at uni and therefore thinks its the norm.
Anyway - end rant - butI just want to say the comments and the blogging and the tweeting are all gold! They make me smile and well - its good to see that she is well and truly in the minority of thinking. I truly hope that it stays that way.
HelenMac said on 11.05.10 at 04:22 AM • [comment link]
In addition to knowing nothing about copyright, plagiarism, or ethics, Ms Griggs seems not to know a whole lot about the English language: Cook’s Source or Cooks’ Source…the apostrophe isn’t optional, it has to go somewhere!
Alexx said on 11.05.10 at 04:59 AM • [comment link]
Thank you and I have shared this ....oops can I do that???
Soni said on 11.05.10 at 05:07 AM • [comment link]
Apparently, CS has also published a stolen article (at least one, maybe more) by Martha Stewart herself. Somehow, I’m pretty sure Martha won’t be happy to settle for the publicity. Or $130, for that matter.
Janet said on 11.05.10 at 05:11 AM • [comment link]
Hiya! Just checked in on the anthology giveaway, and have been laughing myself silly reading this post and the great responses!!! Can’t say anything more than has already been said. Exploding heads and all. Thanks for the much-needed gales of chortles!
Holly said on 11.05.10 at 05:19 AM • [comment link]
This level of idiocy is horrifying, it’s like she’s proud of the attention. The internet is a public domain? I was reading her Twitter posts and one mentions moving to the Bahamas “where there is no copyright law”. Yes, like many countries around the world, there is a copyright law. I sincerely hope she starts hearing from lawyers soon. There is no excuse for this level of ignorance.
April said on 11.05.10 at 07:03 AM • [comment link]
I find it particularly funny that the Apple Pie article & recipes that were stolen and “edited to make them better” are listed in the Contents page with a punctuation error.
MarioneTTe said on 11.05.10 at 09:03 AM • [comment link]
Congrats: Googling Judith Griggs (with or without quotes) links the Google Bomb as the #2 result. The #1 result? The NY Times article about the whole event.
As of 3 AM, EST, search rankings were:
“Cooks Source” was the 61st most popular search.
“Judith Girggs” was the 78th most popular search.
You know you have to have upset the Internet when you break into the top 100 most popular searches on Google.
Literary Slut Kilian said on 11.05.10 at 01:18 PM • [comment link]
Ahh, great way to ease into the weekend. Pulling up a chair and popping off the cap on some brew to watch the fireworks.
Theresa Meyers said on 11.05.10 at 04:03 PM • [comment link]
We need to put your defintion into www.urbandictionary.com Oddly enough the most popular definition for griggs (added in 2007) already comes up as “total bullshit or lie”! Humm…
Susan said on 11.06.10 at 05:24 AM • [comment link]
What? Everything on the Internet is public domain? Huh??? I’m gonna lay this one on my mom. She’s a retired librarian and kind of intense about proper crediting of sources.
JESS said on 11.06.10 at 09:43 AM • [comment link]
Stop being so hot smart bitches. The knowledge you hold may implode the universe.
YUP world42 is my world plus what i save yall from.
Judith Anne Horner said on 11.06.10 at 10:58 PM • [comment link]
I’m ashamed to admit that I grew up in the same part general of the country where this publication is located. As for Ms. Griggs’ three decades of editing experience, I was employed as an in-house editor for only six and a half years, but I sure as heck understand copyright laws.
This fiasco is also making me just a tad bit paranoid. I’m beginning to wonder if anyone out there in cyberspace is lifting posts from my personal blog(s). Nah, no way. Who would be interested in plagiarizing my life history or my opinions on some very mundane stuff? Someone who thinks my life is more interesting than hers? Or his? Sad.
Cheezit said on 11.08.10 at 05:56 PM • [comment link]
Of course it had to come to this….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC-tVHLM99w
Judith Anne Horner said on 11.08.10 at 07:23 PM • [comment link]
Ooops! Apologizing for my lack of attention to editing my own work before submitting. The first sentence of my comment on November 6 transposed the words “part” and “general.”
I do make mistakes, but I do catch them. Eventually.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled issue. Yesterday I went into the Cooks Source Facebook page. This is a gag page, right? The picture looks, well, not really appropriate for publication—anywhere.
Aim said on 11.09.10 at 07:22 PM • [comment link]
I have been to freelance writer sites in the past and have seen letters from writers who have been contracted to and have written articles for publications for payment, then expected to be paid and I have read letters they (the unpaid writers) posted from “editors” at these publications…the tone is very much the same. The attitude seems to be “...I used your work and did not pay you…what you gunna do about it?” It is not easy to be a writer, and now that theft is so easy, via the internet, not easier at all. The good word is, it is not so easy to screw the little guy…because, via the internet, the little guy has a very large crowd of sympathizers, and your ass will be grass. Do I hear a new era arriving…
AnnotatedLA said on 11.10.10 at 12:01 AM • [comment link]
I heard about this story first as I was listening to NPR on my way home last night. In addition to all the people and companies they plagiarized from you can add NPR to the list. They announced that they have sent Cook Source a cease and desist letter for pulling from them.
Check out their piece. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131168884
You can read it or listen to the 4 minute story.
Kathy said on 11.15.10 at 06:05 PM • [comment link]
A misunderstanding that a student of mine, and the Associate Dean of the university, shared—when I discovered that she had lifted her entire final essay from numerous sites on the Internet, it was explained to me that it really wasn’t plagiarism, because she’d cited her sources in the biblio at the end of the essay. Hence she went on to pass the course. And to graduate that year (which she wouldn’t have done had she failed the course, which she would have done had the charge of plagiarism been supported.
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