Re: Cookbooks & copyright question

["Amalyah Keshet" <akeshet@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Copyright in recipes is a topic that has been discussed at great length and in
great detail on the cni-copyright list.  You can access and search the list
archives via www.cni.org  or
https://mail2.cni.org/Lists/CNI-COPYRIGHT/List.html

If I recall properly, the bottom line is: a straightforward recipe (the
formula) is not protectable, but a more narrative presentation of one (Alice
B. Toklas's recipies, for example) can be protectable as they are original
expression.  Quoting one directly from a published cookbook seems to me to be
a matter of risk management:  I would prefer to have permission, because
proving to anyone who objects that their recipe isn't protected (if that is
the case) could be a very expensive legal process.

 [I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.]

amalyah keshet
head of image resources & copyright management
the israel museum, jerusalem   www.imj.org.il
board of directors, the museum computer network   www.mcn.edu