Books of recipes are copyrightable though. You can use a recipe, but you can't just copy the book and sell it as your own. What you can't copyright is a simple

Books of recipes are copyrightable though. You can use a recipe, but you can't just copy the book and sell it as your own. What you can't copyright is a simple set of instructions, which is what a recipe is. Not sure where you get the idea that comments can't be copyrighted. As far as I know, if they are original works of authorship in a tangible medium, and you don't agree to waive that right in the terms of service, you own the copyright. In other words, the usual tests of whether something can be copyrighted. In any case, comparing comments, recipes, and books as though they were the same thing doesn't make sense to me. I'd like to hear the ways in which they are equivalent, and why authors of novels should be stripped of their current right to claim the sole right to make copies of their own work.