[Sca-librarians] Recipes & Public Domain

[Solveig Throndardottir]

Noble Librarians!

Greetings from Solveig! The copyright status of recipes is discussed  
in several sections of The Public Domain by Attorney Stephen Fishman  
ISBN: 0873374339.

In particular, on page 1/9 we find a reference to Puglications Int'l  
Ltd. v. Meredith Corp., 88 F. 3d 473 (7th Cir, 1996) in which a  
cookbook publisher sued for copyright infringement over republication  
of several yogurt recipes by the defendant. The plaintiff ultimately  
lost.

from p. 2/6 "For example, a mere listing of ingredients or contents,  
such as in a recipe, is considered to be completely lacking in  
creativity and cannot be protected by copyright (but explanatory  
material or other original expression in a recipe or other list can  
be protected)."

from p. 3/26 "A mere listing of ingredients for a recipe is not  
copyrightable. However, if a cookbook author spices up his or her  
recipes with explanatory material, such material is protectable. One  
court has suggested that this could include advice on wines to with  
the meal, hints on place settings and appropriate music or tales of a  
recipe's historical or ethnic origin."

Your Humble Servant
Solveig Throndardottir
Amateur Scholar




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