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Ownership of recipes
Posted by Ali W
Ownership of recipes August 27, 2019 09:55PM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 676 |
A recent posting has got me thinking about this subject.
There used to be a children's tv programme on Saturday mornings called What Now. Our children watched it every week unless we were out of the house. In 1983 they announced a recipe competition with a fabulous food processor as the prize - judging by a well known cook.
At that time we had hosted some friends from the USA who brought some Reeceās Peanut Butter cups for the family. We had never heard of them or tasted them before, so our friend said she had a recipe that was really close in flavour to the original.
Our son sent the recipe to the competition - they raved about it on air and he won the competition.
The well known cook and book author then added a splash of vanilla to the recipe and called it her own. It appeared in several volumes of her books.
Which gets me to thinking - who actually owns recipes and do people have a right to get uptight about it? We could all add a pinch of salt and say it is not the original recipe and therefore ours?
Any thoughts?
There used to be a children's tv programme on Saturday mornings called What Now. Our children watched it every week unless we were out of the house. In 1983 they announced a recipe competition with a fabulous food processor as the prize - judging by a well known cook.
At that time we had hosted some friends from the USA who brought some Reeceās Peanut Butter cups for the family. We had never heard of them or tasted them before, so our friend said she had a recipe that was really close in flavour to the original.
Our son sent the recipe to the competition - they raved about it on air and he won the competition.
The well known cook and book author then added a splash of vanilla to the recipe and called it her own. It appeared in several volumes of her books.
Which gets me to thinking - who actually owns recipes and do people have a right to get uptight about it? We could all add a pinch of salt and say it is not the original recipe and therefore ours?
Any thoughts?
Re: Ownership of recipes August 28, 2019 12:54AM |
Registered: 12 years ago Posts: 3,422 |
Copyright and intellectual property is a very complex area of law and I don't think there has ever been a clear-cut case relating to recipes. As I understand it the fundamental issue is that while an idea cannot be copyrighted an expression of the idea can (whether written, oral or enacted e.g. a Youtube cooking show).
As a published author Helen will surely have the best understanding and I look forward to her comments.
One high profile local cookery writer, Annabel Langbein, regularly presents traditional recipes with the implication that she has invented them, e.g. pork cooked in milk, which is a very old Italian way of cooking pork and has been well known since Elizabeth David wrote about it in Italian Food in the early 1950s. I have never heard any suggestion that Annabel is in breach of copyright.
As a published author Helen will surely have the best understanding and I look forward to her comments.
One high profile local cookery writer, Annabel Langbein, regularly presents traditional recipes with the implication that she has invented them, e.g. pork cooked in milk, which is a very old Italian way of cooking pork and has been well known since Elizabeth David wrote about it in Italian Food in the early 1950s. I have never heard any suggestion that Annabel is in breach of copyright.
Re: Ownership of recipes August 28, 2019 12:55AM |
Admin Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 7,920 |
This is a tricky area with lots of shades of grey.
I completely agree with you that it seems to be those who popularise recipes then claim them as their own.
With all due respect I think that happened with the Lemon Yoghurt Cake.
I also had an email complaint regarding credit not given to Sticky lemon Slice but when I politely disputed the origin of the recipe I didn't hear any further.
I also know of people who have entered into recipe competitions and then had their recipe adopted by a company or individual and claimed as their own.
In terms of ownership, I really think there are lots of recipes that no one can lay claim to.
I completely agree with you that it seems to be those who popularise recipes then claim them as their own.
With all due respect I think that happened with the Lemon Yoghurt Cake.
I also had an email complaint regarding credit not given to Sticky lemon Slice but when I politely disputed the origin of the recipe I didn't hear any further.
I also know of people who have entered into recipe competitions and then had their recipe adopted by a company or individual and claimed as their own.
In terms of ownership, I really think there are lots of recipes that no one can lay claim to.
Re: Ownership of recipes August 28, 2019 01:02AM |
Registered: 12 years ago Posts: 3,422 |
The Lemon Yoghurt Cake is a great example of a recipe that has been claimed by many people. Some claims are ludicrous, I read several years ago someone claiming it as an heirloom family recipe dating back to Victorian times (despite its use of yoghurt and vegetable oil, neither of which were in use in cakes then).
Re: Ownership of recipes August 28, 2019 03:01AM |
Admin Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 7,920 |
Legally you cannot copyright an ingredient list but you can copyright the wording of a method.
It often becomes more of a moral decision than legal.
if you make 3 changes to a recipe then it can be called yours.
Most recipes have their origins from many years ago and I guess with recipes such as the lemon yoghurt cake it was probably initially made with butter (I still do that) and had soured milk instead of yoghurt.
if you Google most recipes you will find pages and pages of something similar with only a slight variation.
It often becomes more of a moral decision than legal.
if you make 3 changes to a recipe then it can be called yours.
Most recipes have their origins from many years ago and I guess with recipes such as the lemon yoghurt cake it was probably initially made with butter (I still do that) and had soured milk instead of yoghurt.
if you Google most recipes you will find pages and pages of something similar with only a slight variation.
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