Recipes Not Subject to Copyright Protection

On October 20, 2015, The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has re-confirmed, once again, that recipes are not subject to copyright protection.

The original ruling arose in the case of Rosemarie Carroll, who accused ex-business partner Larry Moore, and others, of copying recipes she had purchased the rights to when they parted ways in 2007, and using them for their new catering business. Carroll, who had made a cookbook based on the recipes, sued for copyright infringement and other state law claims.

The Sixth Circuit upheld the district court’s dismissal of Carroll’s copyright claim, on the basis that the cookbook was not creative enough for protection. It noted that the cookbook was a compilation of recipes, and said it would only be subject to copyright protection if it was an original, meaning if it had some creative aspect. The Sixth Circuit’s ruling was anchored to the long-standing rule that recipes themselves do not enjoy copyright projection because the list of ingredients is merely a factual statement. And a recipe’s instructions, as functional directions, are statutorily excluded from copyright protection pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 102(b).

Notably, courts have found that cookbooks can be copyrighted as original compilations if authors “lace their directions for producing dishes” with creative content such as stories about times the dish was made.

To learn more about what Castaybert PLLC can do for you in terms of Copyright and Trademark protection, click here.