Comments on: Chef to would-be copycats: Eat this http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/2707 Feel Smart Again Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:19:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: Ed http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/2707/comment-page-1#comment-4566 Ed Thu, 02 Nov 2006 19:57:39 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/2707#comment-4566 Copyrighting a recipe might not provide the protection the chef desires. A copyright prevents others from, quite literally, copying the work. In the case of books, lyrics, or even artwork, the "copy" has value because it is a replication of the work. With a recipe, the value is both in the information and the outcome. A copyright on the Recipe, then, would stop anyone from putting the recipe in a cook book, or selling the recipe. But it would not protect the finished dish. Unless the cook then copyrights the finished dish as a sculpture ... but it isn't intended to be a sculpture, so there could be a question as to the chef lying on the copyright application. Then there is the whole mess created when we bring in placing goods in the "Stream of commerce." A patent seems like the more natural fit of a recipe, as patents protect ideas and methods ... and that is what a recipe is at heart. The downside, however, would be that patents, by definition, are finite (17 years). Whew ... what a mess. Copyrighting a recipe might not provide the protection the chef desires. A copyright prevents others from, quite literally, copying the work. In the case of books, lyrics, or even artwork, the “copy” has value because it is a replication of the work. With a recipe, the value is both in the information and the outcome. A copyright on the Recipe, then, would stop anyone from putting the recipe in a cook book, or selling the recipe. But it would not protect the finished dish. Unless the cook then copyrights the finished dish as a sculpture … but it isn’t intended to be a sculpture, so there could be a question as to the chef lying on the copyright application. Then there is the whole mess created when we bring in placing goods in the “Stream of commerce.”

A patent seems like the more natural fit of a recipe, as patents protect ideas and methods … and that is what a recipe is at heart. The downside, however, would be that patents, by definition, are finite (17 years).

Whew … what a mess.

]]> By: justin case http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/2707/comment-page-1#comment-4565 justin case Thu, 02 Nov 2006 19:18:56 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/2707#comment-4565 This is just another example of people trying to seek copyright for everything these days... a trend bound to chill creativity and the expression of new ideas, most of which are built upon previous work. It's not as though Cantu created his recipes and processes whole cloth; they build upon years of cooking traditions and food science. May he continue to make interesting food, but fail utterly in copyrighting recipes. This is just another example of people trying to seek copyright for everything these days… a trend bound to chill creativity and the expression of new ideas, most of which are built upon previous work. It’s not as though Cantu created his recipes and processes whole cloth; they build upon years of cooking traditions and food science. May he continue to make interesting food, but fail utterly in copyrighting recipes.

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