Law expert weighs in on RecipeTin Eats plagirusm scandal as Nagi Maehashi and Brooke Bellamy go head to head

Daily Mail​

02-05-2025

A law expert says Nagi Maehashi would have a tough case to prove if she and rival Brooke Bellamy, accused of stealing her recipes, end up in court.
RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi has alleged popular social media baker Ms Bellamy stole two of her recipes - for baklava and caramel slice - in her bestselling cookbook Bake With Brooki.
Ms Maehashi raised the accusations of copyright infringement on Tuesday before Sally McKenney, the US author and blogger behind Sally's Baking Addiction, came forward with similar claims about Ms Bellamy hours later.
Ms Bellamy, who was then dumped as an ambassador for a federally funded program for young girls in business, has denied the accusations, saying she had been making and selling her recipes well before Ms Maehashi's were published.
On Thursday, Ms Maehashi clapped back, sharing a screenshot of her archived recipe for caramel slice dated April 2016 - predating Ms Bellamy's claimed October 2016 development of the recipe by six months.
The spat has raised questions about whether recipes shared by home cooks and food bloggers are covered by copyright law. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Ms Maehashi's claims are true.
Can you copyright a recipe?
Isabella Alexander, a law professor at University of Technology Sydney, told Daily Mail Australia that it was indeed possible to copyright recipes.
RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi (pictured) has accused Ms Baker of stealing recipes for her bestselling cookbook Bake With Brooki
'I guess the answer is yes, a recipe can potentially be protected by copyright law, but it might not give you much protection,' Ms Alexander said.
'It would be easier to claim protection for a recipe that was very unusual, unique, or expressed in a very individual way.
'Where the recipe is quite simple you would be looking for an extremely high level of identity between the original and the alleged copy.'
Does Nagi Maehashi have a strong case?
As an example, Ms Alexander said the two recipes for caramel slice looked extremely similar - but there are only so many ways to make the sweet treat.
'The problem is, you have to think about what the ingredients are for caramel slice - you're already working within fairly strict parameters,' she said.
'With the instructions there's more differences (than the ingredients), but there's still a really high level of similarity.
'I think there's an inference of copying that could be drawn there.'
'Nagi would need to show her particular contribution to this classic recipe and that Brooke had copied it,' Ms Alexander said
But if Ms Maehashi launched a legal action it would be difficult for her to show that she had put her own spin on the recipe, Ms Alexander said.
'It's not really cut and dried - recipe cases are hard to prove.
'Nagi would need to show her particular contribution to this classic recipe and that Brooke had copied it.'
It would be helpful to Brooke's defence that her recipe was worded slightly differently, she added.
If Ms Maehashi's case was successful she could ask for damages or an account of profits
Her compensation might include a share of the book's royalties, plus an amount for lack of attribution.
The book has racked up an estimated $4.6million in sales.
Ms Alexander described it as a 'fascinating case' that gave an insight into the food industry.
'Obviously there's a community of chefs and people that right recipes, and they have norms around the kind of copying you'll tolerate.'
The alleged plagiarism row took a further twist on Wednesday night when award-winning chef/restaurateur Luke Mangan accused Ms Maehashi of not crediting him appropriately for one of his recipes.
'She has credited my recipe, but I would have preferred a bigger mention and at least linking people to our website,' Mr Mangan told The Courier Mail.
Ms Maehashi adapted Mr Mangan's butter chicken recipe - adding salt and a low-fat cream option - and referenced the chef in a footnote online.
Mr Mangan was not mentioned in the print copy but it did feature a QR code linking to the online credited version.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Maehashi and Ms Bellamy for comment.
Ms Maehashi is the founder of popular website, RecipeTin Eats, which has 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
She is also the author of award-winning cookbooks Dinner and Tonight.
She and Ms Bellamy could face off next week at the Australian book industry awards in Melbourne, where their respective bestselling cookbooks have both been nominated for the 2025 Illustrated Book of the Year.
On Thursday the row took a surprise turn when Ms Maehashi posted a video to Instagram betting her fans and supporters to leave Ms Bellamy alone.
'Please stop the trolling' the Australian cook said in the clip.
'Now I know I've made serious allegations, but this does not justify the personal attacks that I've seen online against Brooke Bellamy' she continued.
'I do not support it, and I'm asking you to stop. I know that this is just a very, very small percentage of people online. I know the majority of people are good, fun, normal people.
'You know, share your opinions, have heated debates, support Brookie, support me, disagree with both of us, think we're pathetic, whatever you want, but just keep it respectful, no trolling, no hateful comments.'
Maehashi went on: 'Fundamentally, at the end of the day, we're talking recipes, and this is a business dispute.
'You know, these are legal allegations that I've made against Penguin, a corporate, allegations made by my company.
'So it just, we've gotta be respectful about this, you know, it's the Recipe Tin way.'
It comes after online baking sensation Bellamy locked down her social media amid a furious backlash over the alleged plagiarism row which has blown up around her.