Comments on: Recipes & Copyright Law

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:40:56 +0000

absolutely good information. When I find a recipe I like and try, I often tweak it anyway. When I rewrite the recipe to share it with others, it often does not have the “exact” same wording. This is a wonderful resource for others. Thank you for sharing your experience on this topic with us.

I started searching this topic b/c I was visiting a recipe website that said all their stuff had a copywrite on it and could not be reproduced. However, they have people uploading recipes to the website daily…so I was confused as to “how” they could forbid others from using those recipes in the publication of a newsletter or when included in a cooking club, etc.

Thanks again.

By: jackie

jackie — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:14:45 +0000

No I haven’t had any legal action brought against me regarding this site. As long as you don’t copy an entire cookbook verbatim onto the web, everything is good. Plus, just because I say a recipe came from a certain place, doesn’t mean it is the original recipe. As soon as you change one item (i.e. 2 cups of flour instead of 3), you change the recipe and the copyright is not longer valid. At least that is my impression.

By: SSG Monty

SSG Monty — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:10:26 +0000

Thanks so much for this detailed look at copyright law in regards to recipes. I have been toying with the idea of creating a family website to share family recipes and recipes that we have tried from cookbooks with each other.

The threat of copyright infringement from using a recipe from a published cookbook has kept this idea on the back burner for some time. It seems as though I can begin this project, although I will keep an eye on new news on this front.

PS. Have you had any legal action brought against you with regards to your website? I have no intention of making something as large or as nicely done as you have here, but I’d like to know if you could share any details.

Thank you!

By: morgajel

morgajel — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:41:26 +0000

“The identification of ingredients necessary for the preparation of each dish is a statement of facts. There is no expressive element in each listing;”

Lets replace “ingredients” with “Steps taken to produce the dish”…

“The identification of steps necessary for the preparation of each dish is a statement of facts. There is no expressive element in each listing;”

Since there is no expressive element, they are safe to post- now, if the directions have a faux-french accent written into them, or some other element that makes them expressive, I’d agree. It’s lame, but I’d agree.

The underlying point is that the following are facts:

* “The oven must be at 375F”
* “the sugar and milk must be brought to a boil before you add the vanilla.”
* “addition of salsa as garnish is optional”

Those are facts needed to complete the dish.

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:14:06 +0000

It doesn’t look as if you have read what you have quoted properly. You can list the ingredients however, the directions and any explanation MAY be subject to copyright.