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The post where I’m quite certain I’ve been ripped off by Martha Stewart

IMG_9284 Remember these cookies? These cookies that I made and posted about last January? These cookies that I had never seen anywhere and was feeling pretty good about my clever little self for making up?  Because no one in the entire world could have possibly come up with the exact same idea (humor me) right? While thumbing through this month's issue of Martha Stewart Living, I came across these:

IMG_2538
 You could have at least chosen a different color of polka-dots, Martha.

So to you, Martha Steal-art, I just wanted to say:……. your welcome.

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43 responses to “The post where I’m quite certain I’ve been ripped off by Martha Stewart”

  1. Macy Avatar
    Macy

    I really want to thank you, along with Martha. I printed out this recipe when you posted it and have been making it on a regular basis since then. I thought I got the recipe here, but couldn’t remember. I love them. I thank you. My entire ward thanks you.

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  2. Azúcar Avatar
    Azúcar

    NERDS!

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  3. dalene Avatar
    dalene

    Would it make you feel any better that yours are way cuter than hers? Because they are.

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  4. celia Avatar
    celia

    Lol…
    Haven’t seen this in the other direction!!! lol…
    Great for you! And I have to say I love much more your pic than Martha’s!!!!

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  5. Alicia A. Avatar
    Alicia A.

    Stupid Martha… 😉

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  6. melanie Avatar
    melanie

    I concur on the polka dots. It makes it SO obvious! And yes, your pictures, staging, and cookies for that matter are WAY cuter! Go Morgan.

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  7. Heather Mattos Avatar
    Heather Mattos

    How dare she?! The letters are so much cuter than the silhouettes!

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  8. kacey Avatar
    kacey

    Well, just be honored that MARTHA (of all people) has to copy from someone as awesome as you!! I love the idea! And yep, I agree your cookies are precious!!

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  9. Traci Avatar
    Traci

    Your cookies look far more delicious, AND your photograph is more inviting. I’d pick from your plate 🙂

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  10. Karolyn Avatar
    Karolyn

    If it’s any consolation yours definitely look better. I’m sure Martha’s scouts peruse through your stuff because you’re so talented. We really do miss having you as a neighbor. I loved it when you made too much cake or too many cookies, so you’d drop some off to us. Those were the good ole days.

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  11. Monica Avatar
    Monica

    Yours are much more pretty and even look tastier. The red dots are cracking me up. Seriously.

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  12. Tricia Avatar
    Tricia

    I always knew she would come to you for ideas one day!

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  13. Robin Avatar
    Robin

    Martha’s got nothing on you. Your cookies and picture are so much more appealing than hers.

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  14. Sara Avatar
    Sara

    No disrespect of course…..but, I have now been saying for, 6 years, that you’ve got Martha beat! This proves it! You could be the next Maven of all “good things.”
    As a side note…we had such a wonderful time visiting on Friday. Thanks for touring us around DL. It was so great to catch up!

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  15. Sandi Henderson Avatar
    Sandi Henderson

    You know what? I have seen SO may projects on her website and magazine that I KNOW I have seen in blogland first. It makes you wonder for sure. Super cute cookies though!!
    Sandi

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  16. Libby Avatar
    Libby

    you cookies are cuter 🙂

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  17. connie Avatar
    connie

    now is the time to get one of those copyright things for your blog. then you can get a whiz-bang legal team together and take on the man…er… woman.

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  18. tricia Avatar
    tricia

    Big time rip off, right down to the polka dot paper. Your cookies however, look so much better than hers.

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  19. Mama Urchin Avatar
    Mama Urchin

    Yours are definitely cuter.

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  20. Jon Avatar
    Jon

    That’s Great. Yours are definitely better. At least she bothered to take her own pictures.

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  21. Amy Hunter Avatar
    Amy Hunter

    Martha totally ripped you off, yours look tons better and tons yummier!

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  22. Stacie Smith Avatar
    Stacie Smith

    Wow. That’s all I’ve gotta say. I would have just been humoring you, except for the polka-dots. Hello!

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  23. Sandra Avatar
    Sandra

    DAng! She totally ripped you off.

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  24. Kassia Avatar
    Kassia

    Actually, while the idea is totally adorable, I’ve seen it before, and even got from Martha (as a promotion about five years ago) a stencil for “cupcakes or cookies” that makes a sweet little pattern to be used with powdered sugar…. So…while I totally agree that her creative staff is prone to stealing ideas, in this case, I don’t think so. The idea has been “out there” in blog-land and magazines for a while. Sorry.

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  25. Jacy Avatar
    Jacy

    Oh, Martha. We all knew Morgan had you beat, but this is a new low. =) And yes, I side with the other commenters that yours look yummier. I mean, if you’re going to rip off someone’s idea, at least try to make it better. But I guess there’s no improving on perfection!

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  26. shelleymay Avatar
    shelleymay

    so – seriously? when i saw this recipe in my issue.. i thought.. i’ve seen those somewhere before. seriously. and it was your blog! you rock.. martha can’t hold a handmade beeswax candle to you!

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  27. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    Well who knows where the idea for this decorating style came from first – I do however know that your cookies taste great and are so easy to make! Tried them when I first saw them on your blog and have been making them ever since.
    For that I thank you Morgan, not Martha!

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  28. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    Also wanted to add that I feel like Martha always makes things more complicated than they have to be. I like your style better in general Morgan! Please keep inspiring us and stealers be damned!

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  29. michal Avatar
    michal

    yours look much better. if they were going to steal your ideas, at least they could one-up you instead of looking so pathetically like copy cats. i’m guessing that martha has a team of people perusing blogs for ideas she can “borrow”. 🙂

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  30. Melissa Avatar
    Melissa

    That damn Martha! I remember watching her show several years ago and she was demonstration how to water your outside plants with a garden hose! “you just put your finger in front of the nozzle and it creates a glorious shower for your garden”. Seriously? Didn’t she and the rest of America do that with the hose when they were 7 years old?

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  31. Melissa Avatar
    Melissa

    oh, and tell kassia to shove it.

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  32. Alyson Avatar
    Alyson

    I like Melissa’s last comment. I think the polka-dot parlour should rolling up its sleeves and getting its hands dirty right about now. And, I am not talking about cookin. TO THE MATTRESSES!

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  33. jessica Avatar
    jessica

    Oh my. While I’ve definitely seen powdered sugar stencils before, the chocolate cookies and the polka dots makes it a photography steal at the very least.
    Well… flattered, Martha has good taste.

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  34. Miranda Avatar
    Miranda

    Shaw! I totally got ripped off by her too! (http://mirandawalker.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-cant-i-stop-hating-her.html) Except I wasn’t clever enough to post it first. I feel your pain.

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  35. Kassia Avatar
    Kassia

    Uh…Melissa, you can shove it right back. Honestly, I can’t even believe that you’d let her post that comment/personal attack. I still think your idea is cute, but if I saw it somewhere first, I think I have a right to point that out. The whole post is about ethics right?

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  36. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    That is just too funny! Yours are way cuter though. Hers look almost black, and your letters are adorable.
    Kassia and Melissa… come on it’s okay. This is a minor thing, not worth getting upset about. Especially during the Christmas season when we should be looking for opportunities to lift each other up, not get upset over little things that really do not matter.

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  37. Tif Avatar
    Tif

    I totally know how you feel! About 8 or 9 years ago I hung up our family pictures on some string with small clothespins. About a year after that it appeared in Ikea and the next year it was on Martha Stewart.

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  38. jennie Avatar
    jennie

    i saw that in this past issue, and was feeling a little bit of anger for you… she could at least give you a little credit:) btw, your cookies look better.

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  39. Kelly Call Avatar
    Kelly Call

    Your cookies look WAY BETTER! 🙂 I keep telling you, you’ve got to make your own mag, “Moore Family Living” Now that will be a magazine to remember!
    xox
    Kelly

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  40. val Avatar
    val

    dang! I had a friend who had a song stolen by a prominent singer in the late 80’s……it was not nice…..they didn’t even bother to change any words!

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  41. Sasha Avatar
    Sasha

    Okay! A friend sent me this link because… it’s happened to me too! Blatantly. More than once. I suppose it’s the only way Martha can keep things going but seriously! She must have a staff that surfs the blogs daily, that’s what my husband and I are convinced of. Absolutely.
    And yours? Cuter.

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  42. Di Avatar
    Di

    i think you should sue!!! Yours are lovely and the sentiment great!!

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  43. KS Avatar
    KS

    Well, it’s just my opinion, but I’d say if you don’t want to become a repeat uncredited design source for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSLO), then you’d better take at least moderate action.
    You don’t have to go to the mattresses as Alyson suggests [grin]. I suspect all you have to do is simply issue a DMCA take down notice. To do that, you notify MSLO in writing that you believe an infringement may have taken place. We’re just talking about a letter here—-nothing drastic or emotional, just a statement of the facts written in a format specified within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The net-net is that DMCA take downs place the burden on them—-they must act on your letter, by law.
    Obviously that’s a gross simplification. The point here is that you can probably achieve your desired result with one strategically worded letter. Time is money, and it simply won’t be worth their while to steal from you again.
    PS: Hey peeps, since we’re talking about legal-y stuff, here’s a disclaimer: I’m not an attorney. This isn’t legal advice. Like I said, it’s just my little ol’ opinion.

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