Seinfeld's Cookbook Law-Suit

[chubbyalaskagriz]

I cannot cut-paste links to this site any longer, but this morning at CNN.com there's an article about the verdict in the case where cookbook author Missy Chase Lapine was suing wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Jessica Seinfled.

Lapine alledged that Seinfeld 'stole" her ideas from already published "The Sneaky Chef" to put into her own cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" that specialized in showing Moms how to sneak veggies into yummy products kids love.

The judge upheld a lower court's ruling that recipes cannot be copyrighted.

 

[ricksrealpitbbq]

So Seinfeld had the better lawyer I see. So why can't a recipe book be copyrighted. That doesn't sound fair at all.

 

[Mama Mangia]

a cookbook can be copyrighted - the recipes can be re-worded and you can't do a thing about it if someone changes the wording of the instructions and uses them

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Is ANY recipe truly ever NEW and ORIGINAL? Hasn't it all been done before- by somebody? If I were to copyright a recipe- what if next year you found a 50 yr. old cookbook that shows the exact recipe written already, long ago, by someone else? (which is actually liable to happen...)

Does one make a recipe "their's" simply by changing a "dash" of salt to "1/4 t." salt?

If I add a splash of Bob's sauce to a smidgen of Bill's sauce- is it now "My" sauce or "Bob and Bill's Sauce"?

Can one patent or copyright a PB&J?

Specific food-writings that detail an individual's personal experience, or that highlight an author's career, or festive event can be copy-righted. But not recipe formulas. Essentially "forumlas" or recipes are nothing more than grocery lists. And grocery lists cannot be copyrighted.

Now IF a cook takes it all a step further and uses their recipe to create a physical product that they wish to market and sell in an incorporated setting- like a special lasagne- or a special pie, or cookie, sold out of a restaurant or a factory-kitchen then THAT product can be copyrighted. But simply writing a list and publishing it in a book is not the same thing.

That's my understanding of it all, anyway.

 

[Dilbert]

it's a tad more complicated when it comes to cookbooks.

a "recipe" as in a listing of ingredients and amounts, is not copyrightable - there are numerous legal cases right up through the Supreme Court which establish that an idea or a fact cannot be copyrighted. of course, lawyers love to debate the definition of things, including the definition of "an idea" and the definition of "a fact." courts have held that a list of ingredients for a dish are a statement of fact.

as MM said tho, the written descriptions of how to make / directions / is considered protected by copyright - any text from every author including the letter you wrote home from summer camp to your parents enjoys full copyright at the instant of its creation - no forms or applications needed.

a cookbook - or a collection of (printed) recipes - can be copyrighted as a "compiled work." however - except in cases of complete verbatim copying - exactly what constitutes a "compiled work" - and what constitutes violation of copyright of a compiled work - is a very sticky wicket.

here's an interesting link to one such case - takes a little slogging to get through it:
http://floridalawfirm.com/meredith.html

but scrolling to the very bottom, the really fascinating part is:

"...The recipes contained in DISCOVER DANNON do not contain even a bare modicum of the creative expression--i.e., the originality--that is the "sine qua non of copyright." ..."

I'm not a lawyer, but reading that, seems the court found even the descriptions of how to put the dish together were not sufficiently original to qualify for "copyright" - much less the ingredients.

which points to Kevin's observation: what is original anymore? short of a "newly invented" ingredient, I suppose folks have combined the existing stuff in many many ways, some combinations taste better than others and 'stick' - some don't.

the day after Reese's Pieces were released, the first guy to put them on an ice cream sundae had an original dish (one could ask, did Reese's already try that in the test kitchen?)

how about chocolate covered oysters on the half-shell...? anybody tried that?

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

how about chocolate covered oysters on the half-shell...? anybody tried that?

Well... half-dipt in almond-bark, but never completly covered in dark or milk chocolate, Dil!