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Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

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Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#151

Surely the uploader could just re-title it "Home-made cheese inspired by Grana Padano". I doubt there'd be any legal issues with that.

There aren't any legal issues with this either. He's not selling the cheese, he's explaining how to make it. That's fair use, and the recipe for Grana Padano is public (defined in the law).

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#152
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rereading my post, I can't find any sort of argument for either changing the system, keeping things as-is, or advocating for any sort of specific change. Simply pattern-matching what people say to ideology is what leads to nothing getting done. I'm not sure I have an opinion on what ought to be done. I do have an opinion that we should keep things fact-based. Licensing requirements protect entrenched interests. Is th…

I am talking from my experience from living in the south of Spain. I know your argument, I know the kind of people who support it, and I know what it is and what it means. You mentioned a common argument, I told you what I think of it.

Yes. That's what you did. It's called stereotyping or bigotry. I am not one of those "kind of people." I don't happen to live in the south of Spain, or even in Europe. In this case, your stereotyping happened to be off-base. I don't even drink wine or eat fancy cheese, so i have no dogs in this race.

My experience is that all "kind of people" are right about some things, wrong about others, and you're better off engaging critically issue-by-issue, rather than discounting an argument based on "the kind of people" who happen to make that particular type of argument.

You're also better off not imputing meaning. There's a pathway to sensible actions:

* Understanding facts (objective reality -- we should all be able to agree)

* Understanding viewpoints on problems (which comes down to values and opinions -- and we definitely won't all agree)

* Coming up with plans (which come down to figuring out how to meet the needs of as many people as possible).

If you short-circuit the top ones because you think it will lead the wrong course of action, you're promoting polarization and standing in the way of meaningful civic discourse. You're also willfully ignorant, since you learn the most engaging with people you disagree with, rather than discounting them (as we do in two halves of America) as liberal snowflakes or racist redneck hicks.

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#153
post #68
post #43

I think it's important to notice that the point is not to keep how to make the cheese secret. The recipe for the cheese is actually encoded in the law, and you can download it freely ( https://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/it/consorzio-disciplinare... , in italian). During lockdown I was trying to make a regional cheese, and the law was the best recipe I could find, with extremely detailed steps. I think they are trying…

> trying to discourage the usage of "something style" naming The law prohibits exactly this. From the Wikipedia article [1]: [Under Protected Geographical Status laws] it is also prohibited to combine the indication with words such as "style", "type", "imitation", or "method" in connection with the protected indications [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_t...

So just use a green screen to make it look like you're in Italy and call your video "How to make Grana Padano"?

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#154

I'd guess most of you don't know that "parmesan" (in the US, and elsewhere) is nothing like the real "parmigiano reggiano". It's tens of times cheaper to produce, and I'd venture to say that it might as well be several times less healthy than the original. Same thing for "grana padano". If you don't know anything about wood pulp in the parmesan, or fake olive oil, I suggest you read "real food, fake food" [0]. It ope…

I've had some of those cheeses, I suspect. Occasionally when buying parmesan it just tastes like utter shit.

Never had olive oil taste bad, but wouldn't surprise me if I had one diluted with a cheap neutral oil.

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#155
post #98
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand it, EU Protected Designation of Origin rules are really broad and ban you from even describing a cheese as being in the style of Grana Padano or Parmesan, at least when selling it commercially. They're not just about protecting the consumer but a kind of protectionism. So ever since the protection was extended to the word Parmesan (for a while only Parmigiano-Reggiano was protected) supermarkets here…

Can I splat "Made in America" and an American flag on my crappy Chineese imports? Can I sell "Idaho potatoes" which were grown in Ireland? Can I buy "Florida orange juice" made with Brazillian oranges? One issue with a EU-US trade deal was that US farmers didn't want to have labelling rules to inform the consumer. Indeed they specifically wanted to remove the option that I, the consumer, had in deciding what to eat.…

The EU PDO scheme conflates geographic origin and a particular type of product in a way that is transparently protectionist and silly. When people say "feta cheese" or "american cheese", they're not asking for "made in Feta cheese" or "made in America cheese". They're asking for a particular flavor profile and cooking behavior, and possibly a specific method of manufacture. There is no particular reason why you can't make feta outside of Feta. There is nothing magical about the location in Greece that makes cheese produced in the same way outside of the town inherently inferior. Fuck terroir.

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#156
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, the article mentions that the protection in Australia applies to wines but not Cheese

Can't imagine why Australian wine needs protection... Who would try to copy it?

Armagh Shiraz would like a word...

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the US being signatory to something does not mean that everybody else is a signatory too. The closest to that I could actually find is the World Intellectual Property Organization for trademarks. But afaik copyrights and patents entirely depend on separate registrations in the individual countries, the only thing the WIPO helps with patents is simplifying the patent application process by filing it in multiple co…

The American government insists that patents, trademarks, and copyrights are respected worldwide without jurisdiction because they got everyone else in the room to agree to do that in exchange for import market access. That's why the WTO TRIPS agreement exists. Everyone agreed to the same laws, and agreed to allow foreigners to sue domestic businesses, so it doesn't matter who has jurisdiction over what. America does…

> That's why the WTO TRIPS agreement exists.

As far as I can tell, TRIPS includes the EU PDO protections, so why are US companies selling "fake" EU food products when the US government agreed to respect EU PDO trough TRIPS? Do EU companies simply not sue against that in US courts? I tried looking for cases like that, but I couldn't really find any examples.

> Everyone agreed to the same laws, and agreed to allow foreigners to sue domestic businesses, so it doesn't matter who has jurisdiction over what.

China is also member of TRIPS, don't have Americans the right to sue in China? Why is that not good enough when it's apparently good enough for EU PDO being violated in the US?

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#158

I'd guess most of you don't know that "parmesan" (in the US, and elsewhere) is nothing like the real "parmigiano reggiano". It's tens of times cheaper to produce, and I'd venture to say that it might as well be several times less healthy than the original. Same thing for "grana padano". If you don't know anything about wood pulp in the parmesan, or fake olive oil, I suggest you read "real food, fake food" [0]. It ope…

Do people genuinely don't know that they are buying fakes and the product is far from the real one or people know very well it's not an original, but they buy it because of the price and despite not being original is still good? If it's only either of those cases, then I can't see how cheese and desist type of actions would help the original producers? I mean if suddenly you cannot find clones on the market, then a person who used to buy clones would fork out more money for the real thing or bought something else within their budget?

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#159

I'd guess most of you don't know that "parmesan" (in the US, and elsewhere) is nothing like the real "parmigiano reggiano". It's tens of times cheaper to produce, and I'd venture to say that it might as well be several times less healthy than the original. Same thing for "grana padano". If you don't know anything about wood pulp in the parmesan, or fake olive oil, I suggest you read "real food, fake food" [0]. It ope…

> I guess the reason why the Italian consortium sent this (otherwise stupid) cease-and-desist to this poor Australian guy, is because they're desperately trying to defend the real stuff from the fakes. It's not "otherwise stupid" it _is_ stupid. They should be going after the counterfeiters not someone who is both trying to educate people on making as authentic a cheese as possible while simultaneously making very cl…

> That has _nothing_ to do with this youtuber.

In your view. Not in mine.

> trying to educate people on making as authentic a cheese as possible

That's the problem. It's never going to be authentic. These kind of cheeses are not just about a recipe; they're also about the ingredients. I don't recall the specific details for grana padano, but to give you an example, the "prosciutto di Parma" is made from pigs who eat a specific type of food that derives from a specific process involving a specific breed of cows (in the nearby area), etc.

You can't simply substitute the ingredient and think that it's going to be the same. It's not. And yet, you think it's "authentic".

Re: Cease and desist for video on how to make “Grana Padano Style Cheese” [video]

#160
post #59

I had no idea that Grana Padano was a PDO. I can't help but feel that going around cease and desisting people that are passionately pursuing hobbies is a really bad idea. It reminds me of when the word Champagne was taken to court. The court ruled that the word could only be used by wine makers in the given region. What this resulted in was not I believe good for the Champagne region, despite the intent. The mind sha…

Do people really get fooled by this? For example if someone buys a "champagne" made in the UK, surely they must know this is not a real thing? And if they don't know then what difference does it make? If the real champagne is out of their budget, are they going to save money or buy something else in their price range?
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