[Rainey]

Is it something someone should be able to copywrite? Could copywrites be enforced? A summit to discuss these issues is on the horizon. http://www.megnut.com/2006/10/keep-recipes-free
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God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor

[emilyj]

When it comes to cooking I think that the "there's nothing new under the sun" adage is correct. Almost all dishes are versions of old ones. I understand copyrighting recipes but surely there is no reason, as this article suggests to copyright the food itself. This seems like something that will be very difficult to police. Surely once the recipe is in the public domain, or is shared in a kitchen environment a chef cannot prevent other chefs from using it later.

[Rainey]

As I understand American copywrite law (don't know how this applies in Europe or Canada or the Pacific) a cookbook author can copywrite the text but not the ingredients. So anytime we want to share an American copywrite protected recipe we should explain the method in our own words.

Me, if I'm gonna share, I'm gonna fully attribute the recipe 'cause I think people should have the credit for their work and I'm going to share it as accurately as I can. My feeling is if someone likes a recipe they might be induced to buy the mag/book.
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God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor

[Deste]

To understand the reason why copyrighting dishes has become a bit of a cause, you might be interested in seeing this article as well as the visual evidence:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=84800

Feedback in pages upon pages of comments demonstrates how complex the issue is.

The accusation of plagiarism has been levied against chefs, cooks and restauranteers (word?) whose dishes replicate ones created by celebrated chefs who have made their reputations on the basis of fresh ideas and novel approaches to food. This is particularly the case when it comes to molecular gastronomy.

The argument centers on the belief that just like some of the most gifted craftsmen and women who made their livings painting, sculpting, or designing buildings prior to the 18th century, exceptional chefs are artists. There is an intellectual component to their work; successful dishes are not merely the result of technical prowess or hard manual labor.

Therefore, their inventions ought to be protected from unacknowledged duplication as much as any novel by Ian McEwan, or any song by Kelly Clarkson.

Obviously, lawyers are going have a hard time defining terms, drafting law, etc. However, some of these men and women are smart people who would also like to believe there is a creative component to their profession.

[Rainey]

Deste-

Haven't read your link yet but I have to say that there's no question there are genuine artists working in every medium including media they are original enough to create themselves. Food is no exception as Clotilde's El Bulli entry evidences.

However, the fact that someone could attempt to duplicate someone else's work should only make clear who the artist is, not diminish the artist's work. How many people, for example have painted still lifes? It's not the arrangement of the elements, the addition of a fish to fruit or a dead rabbit to veggies that makes a painting outstanding. It's how the artist conveyed something about the relationship of the things to the viewer or to the light or to life. Some people can put paint on canvas and get an excellent image. Some people can put paint on canvas and illuminate something and put you in another time and place. In another head.

Copywrites are a way to conduct business. If, on the other hand, art inspires other art, as knowledge increases knowledge, why attempt to hamstring that for the sake of money?
_________________
God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor