[Sca-cooks] menu copyright?

[Terry Decker]

You're failing to address the legal distinction between a recipe and a group
of recipes.  In general, an individual recipe may represents a cooking
algorithm and therefore may exempt from copyright.  You can not copyright a
formula.  However, a group of formulas (recipes) especially with additional
text (like a cookbook) may be considered copyrightable.  Recipes may not be
protected under copyright law but their presentation is.

Because of the distinction about formulas, usually no one is going to argue
about a single recipe, but if you copy a chapter out of a cookbook and
publish, then you may see some legal action.

Taking text published on the World Wide Web does not hold one harmless of
copyright violation, it just makes theft easier.  In most cases people won't
take action, but if they do, the only opinion on fair use or violation which
is going to count is the judge's.

BTW, if you are going to address copyright law on your links page, you need
to put a link to the copyright law contained in Title 18 (IIRC) of the U.S.
Code.  It is criminal law rather than the civil law in Title 17.   The two
make interesting reading for bureaucrats who want techs to pirate software.

Bear

>According to the copyright laws (see my website for the link under
>reference) if it's PUBLISHED on the WORLD WIDE WEB, then there is no
>copyright laws for RECIPES.  But an internal list, that is iffy.
>
>Soffya
>http://aeonline.biz/Links.htm