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According to the US Copyright Office, recipes aren't generally copyrightable. Listings of ingredients certainly aren't, and the instructions can only be copyri
by tsuraan 17y ago
According to the US Copyright Office, recipes aren't generally copyrightable. Listings of ingredients certainly aren't, and the instructions can only be copyrighted if they are a "substantial literary expression". I'm guessing that "mix stuff, cook it at 350 until done" isn't going to qualify.
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html for the real info.
- req2 17y agoGoing by the law, that's true, but what makes a recipe distinct from sheet music? They're both simple printed instructions informing appropriately skilled personnel how to produce a piece to be consumed. "Substantial literary expression" is a hedge. Many chefs have the same kind of distinctive culinary traits as writers have literary traits or as composers have distinctive styles.
- tsuraan 17y agoI don't know the real legal reasoning, but in general the score for a symphony is quite a bit more detailed than the words on your grandmother's recipe card. IIRC, a piece of music 8 seconds or less cannot be under copyright (can't find any reference; sorry about that). I would think the typical recipe card would fall under that line of reasoning, whereas a page or two article on how a chef makes a complicated dish would probably be a creative work.
- req2 17y agoLength is a red herring; compare the copyrightable poetry in 'Haiku in English' (e.g., "tundra", in full) with signature dishes, like sachertorte or Waldorf Salad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku_in_English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku_in_English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_dish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_dish
- TrevorJ 17y agoSo then "open source" recipes are less than a big deal since that is pretty much the default for any recipe, published or not. Hmm, interesting.