Jill Dillard, Duggar daughter and ex-reality star, recently updated her family's website and has been promoting it on social media. The content includes family photos, a blog, and a page of recipes. However, the viewing public noticed something when Jill announced a "new" recipe posted Easter weekend. The recipe, for a stuffed zucchini dish, wasn't new at all -- it existed on another website and was apparently not the Duggar family's creation. When questioned, Jill and Derick Dillard admitted to taking photos and recipes from other sites. However, the page with the recipe still denotes it, and the photo, as their property, and forbids others to copy it.
Derick and Jill Dillard recently updated their website, and the newest recipe page, for Stuffed Zucchini, includes Jill's note that she tried this recipe shortly after marrying Derick, and tweaked it until it suited her.
However, when she posted this on Instagram Saturday, Jill's social media following was quick to call her out.
"Is this a photo you took of what you made? I found the exact photo and the recipe on a website. Be careful Jill. Otherwise it could be plagiarism. Don't want you to get into trouble."Others chimed in to say they had found the photo and recipe, linking to Easy Stuffed Zucchini on All Recipes. One viewer even said they'd sent an email to the website to warn that the recipe had been taken without credit and posted on the Dillard Family site.
"[Recipe sites] make them available to be linked. Not stolen or plagiarized."
"Jill claims them as her own. That's stealing."In fact, the text on Jill's site doesn't match the text on the All Recipes site and includes a few changes in ingredients (such as substituting ground turkey for the beef mentioned in the original recipe). However, the photo is clearly the same.
A visitor to the Dillard Family website asked about this and received an answer from Jill and Derick.
"Yeah, some are recipes I've collected that we make regularly that I thought others would like too, or sometimes I end up making my own version out of a recipe I find, and other times I try a dish I really like and get the recipe for it to share with others. Most of the recipes on our site didn't originate with me, but we've compiled or tweaked them to become some of our favorites!Thanks for checking!"However, Jill didn't address ownership of the photo, and the recipe page bears this warning:
"The photos above are considered the property of the Dillard Family and may only be used with their written permission. Please request permission to use the photos."Jill has also made it clear that she's going through and editing some of these recipes now. She added a comment on a recipe for Slow Chicken Mole to admit the recipe was copied from Chowhound, here. If you're wondering, yes, Jill Dillard's site uses the photo from Chowhound for this recipe, too.
The recipe on Dillard's site for Riguas can also be found, word for word, here, on Salvadorian Recipes. In a recent comment, Jill added that she bought these while in Central America, and isn't really sure about the ingredients.
While Jill Dillard says she reposts recipes on her site but tweaks them to make them her own, this one still contains the personal details from the original author, such as this line.
"You can buy already made patties from some local Indian or Chinese store. That's what I do."The recipe also includes a line in which the original author suggested viewing an attached video for instructions on wrapping momos -- a video that Dillard didn't include on her website.
Some of the recipes on Jill Dillard's site include photos that show the Duggar daughter actually making the dish, such as this banana bread, or some slow cooker items. Other recipes Jill credits family or friends for, by name. However, despite adding a few comments to mention that some recipes were taken from websites, Jill Duggar Dillard has not credited these sources with links, and her website still claims the photos as her own.
