[Sca-cooks] menu copyright?

[Terry Decker]

Which research sources?  Original text?  Transcriptions?  Translations?
Fully worked out recipes?

When I work from an original source, I simply cite the source.  When I use
other people's material, I cite their work.  Recipe adaptations are usually
my work.  If you use my adaptations to create your menu, then you should
cite my work.

The fact that menus are the same does not mean that there is anything
untoward, coincidences happen and if people are working from a historic
feast, they are highly likely.  There may even be convergence in the choice
of dishes because of tastes.  Who cares.  For a feast, the food on the table
is the presentation and it is always singular and unrepeatable.  The person
who would take the menu and recipes from someone else's feast and declare
the work to be theirs probably doesn't have the talent to pull off such a
feast.  In that case, would I want my name associated with them?

Bear



>I have an interesting hypothetical question. Where is the "intellectual
>copyright", for want of a better term, lie in developing feast menus? Given
>the commonality of research sources and the fact that some dishes are going
>to be more successful feast choices than others, it's more than likely that
>similar menus are going to emerge for different events, especially if using
>similar sources. My question is at which point  does this become
>plagiarism? A few dishes, a couple of courses, a menu as a whole? If so,
>does this matter (or does anyone care)? I know a lot of people deservedly
>ask to be credited for their research, but where does research become
>brain-sucking? As I said, just curious about a hypothetical situation.
>
>Giles