SC - Copyright of Recipes

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

>
>Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 23:12:29 -0500
>From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
>Subject: SC - Copyright of recipes...
>
>Hi all,
>
>With regard to the whole "King's Taste Comments" thread, I'm afraid
>we're straying bit away from the point.
><<snip>>
>My only source of objection is that I'd rather not have anyone making a
>profit from my work without my consent. I'd really be much more
>comfortable with the idea of the recipes being distributed for free, or
>at most for the cost of printing / copying.
><<snip>>
>Perhaps we could think of some way to present this material
>inexpensively and equitably, but I think the amount of arguing on this
>subject has become distinctly counterproductive. Perhaps we could expend
>our energies in finding a solution to this problem, instead of worrying
>about an unfortunate, immutable,  (and possibly exaggerated) past?
><<snip>>
>Now, how do we get the blasted thing on paper?
>
>Adamantius
>troy at asan.com

I think the worry here is whether the items were voluntarily contributed or
if they were "gleaned" from other sources (making it hard for authors to
track down their own work). I recall such a discussion on the Rialto where a
gentle had not indicated whether or not the authors of the recipes in the
"collection" were notified ahead of time for permission. I asked him to
address that, he did, and I was certainly satisfied. I recall His Grace
Cariadoc commenting that this gentle's approach was admirable and such a
collection would be a valuable additon to the corpus of material we have on
redaction, original recipes, etc..... Of course, some wise-acres jumped in
and muddied the waters with scary comments about legal fine hairs, and I
stopped reading the thread at that point. I dearly hope we are not
discussing the same gentle NOW on this venue. Even worse, I hope there is
not yet another gentle being raked over the coals for a kind-hearted impulse.

So now we have a real problem, rather than a percieved one. A
well-intentioned gentle wants to do a good thing, but feels maligned because
of legal issues. There is an answer. There is always an answer if we
persevere. I THINK the answer is this: Solicit voluntary contributions or
directly contact the authors of the material for permission. Omit any
material (however valuable) that does not come with specific permission to
publish/re-publish attached. Give credit where it is due. Charge minimally,
and give profits to a worthy cause (pediatric aids comes to mind, or
make-a-wish). Give thanks and praise lavishly to those who contributed.
Allow them to be your salesmen if you wish, but by all means give them a
copy gratis.  This list contains enough valuable experience and noble people
that the project is do-able. The copyright laws are designed to make sure no
one gets treated unfairly. If we go out of our way to be nice to the folks
we wish to contribute, contributors will not have a problem with the
project. And, if non-contributors have a problem with it, it's THEIR
problem, and not a legal but a personal issue. 


Aoife---done something like this on a smaller scale before, so she knows it
can work! 

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