Though we think of cooking as art, that does not make a recipe copyrightable.
"A mere listing of ingredients is not protected under copyright law. However, where a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a collection of recipes as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection." — The Copyright Office of the US Government
"A list of ingredients cannot be copyrighted. An idea, concept, system or method of doing something cannot be copyrighted either. Only the substantially literary expression associated with a recipe can be copyrighted. To the extent there are only so many ways to say "boil water" it is not creative, or therefore protected as copyright. However, If the recipe directions or description are a wholesale copy of another person's creative literary expression, they are in violation of copyright. So even if the recipe originated elsewhere, even if the ingredients are still the same, if the directions and descriptions of your posted recipe are "(essentially) "in your own words, it is your recipe."
(Thanks to the Recipe Zarr website for this great information)
I agree. Let me tell you about my recipe for spiral stuffed pork tenderloin ;)
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note, thanks for the info. Most of my favorite recipes in my database are a combination of two or more other recipes that someone else wrote. I credit them but often wondered at what point does a recipe become "mine".
Me too and I thought being new to this blog stuff I had better check it out. So, according to the information I found on Recipe Zarr it seems pretty clear; Unless you have clear literary distinction (in other words saying "boil water" isn't distinctive it isn't copywrighted unless its in a cookbook, and even then, if you add your own descriptions it becomes YOUR recipe to do with what you please. Besides if we give credit to the original "concept" we put on our sites it should make the average person happy, I'm personally not looking to make money, just cook some good grub.
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