Angela Arnold wrote:

> Therein lies a problem. The man is not in violation of copyright laws
> because he is posting recipes he finds on web sites, no more than
> anyone else is for posting any recipe. You can not copyright a single
> recipe, only a collection of published recipes in the form of a recipe
> book. Meaning that someone could reprint or pass-on any recipe from
> that book or source as long as they didn't copy the entire source
> (book, web site, etc.) completely and exactly. You can not copyright a
> fact or idea, only the manner in which they are presented and a recipe
> falls under facts and ideas. Just like you can't copyright a song,
> only the lyrics.
> Even if there were copyright laws for single recipes, he still would
> not be in violation because he is not reproducing them for profit, nor
> is he claiming to be the author of the recipes. This is because there
> are certain infringements that the copyright law excuses under the
> doctrine of "fair use." In an effort to define fair use, the copyright
> law provides a four-factor test and failure to obtain profit or
> personal claim falls under one of these factors, thus making it
> exempt.
> Here are some links about copyright laws and recipes (among others).
> http://www.uncletaz.com/backyard/entheta/copyrght.html
> http://www.keytlaw.com/Copyrights/faqs.htm#q1
> http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/octnews/oc020403.html
> http://www.eff.org/IP/ip_and_electronic_data.paper
> He is not in violation of any copyright laws, although there may be
> something said about ethics. But, since he is not deriving anything
> from posting these recipes and is only doing so for the benefit of
> others, there is nothing unethical about it. Especially since he is
> not depriving the authors of any income in doing so (these recipes are
> free for anyone to read and use-the sites do not charge you to have
> access to them.)
> Angel

Very well done, Angela, but he is doing it for HIS benefit at the core.
See how many posts there are telling him to take a hike.


jim