What if...when it comes to our recipes?

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grumpyoldman

Senior Cook
Joined
Jan 13, 2025
Messages
215
Location
Colorado
don't anyone get your feathers ruffled but i am going to pose a legit question . just hypothetical mind you, but what if you had a very good recipe for hamburgers and you posted it here or elsewhere then later you found out someone monetized it , there are several ways to make money , they could sell it online , sell it to someone that wants to start a new business or some other way . the point is would you be upset ? should you have ever posted it in the 1st place , i think this could be done with any number of recipes i see here and other places
many recipes are very common and most of the time it makes no difference , but there are a few "special " ones that this could happen to
once again i am not trying to start a ruckus, but i think this bears asking
 
I think I would appreciate the person wanting to commercialie my recipe to contact me and let me know.
I would be quite chuffed probably.

Now if I would plan to make money out of one of my recipes, I wouldn't post it.
 
I'd say don't put it on the internet if you don't want to take that chance.

The description of the cooking steps of a recipe are protected by copyright, the list of ingredients are not. Copyright protection only covers you if someone posts your recipe, word-for-word. If they re-write it in their own words, it is not a copyright infringement.

BTW, copying a recipe word-for-word from a website or blog onto this food forum could get the forum in trouble, but if you re-write the recipe in your own words, it's okay. The list of ingredients is not protected, so you can leave that alone. Another popular food forum was taken offline temporarily by their web service provider. The admin/mods had to delete a number of recipes to get back online.

But going back to the original question, if someone uses your recipe to make a dish to sell in their restaurant, I don't think there is anything you can do. It would be nice of them to ask permission, and give you some kind of credit for the recipe, but there's not much you can do if they don't.

CD
 
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caseydog you have brought up some fine points
i don't see anything wrong with sharing some ones take on common recipes , however it would seem foolish to give away to the world one that in theory could be monetized
thanks for the insight CD
 
Since I don't plan on trying to make money from my recipes, it's not a big deal to me. But, as others have written, it would be polite to ask permission and give credit. I would be upset if someone copied a recipe of mine and published it as their own work and then tried to come after me for violating their copyright.
 
Even the most famous of the celebrity chefs will leave something out of their recipes in their cookbooks. It might be slightly different measurements of ingredients or a little change to their techniques but it is their way of giving you their recipes without jeopardising their business.
I can guarantee you, for example, that the beef Wellington in Ramsay’s books or on TV simply doesn’t taste exactly like the product he serves in his restaurants.
There might be some overlooked aspects when you write a recipe, too. Temperature, humidity, weather and even altitude can affect how food reacts in the real world. Age of the ingredients, brand differences and that elusive “love” factor.
I don’t become concerned about others copying my recipes, but I do like to acknowledge the original cook when I make one of their dishes from here.
 
JE: you just pointed out something i had not considered , altitude !!! i live well over 6000 ft above sea level and that would have an effect on temps
why did i not think of that ?

thanks

i just did the research and know how to make adjustments ...if needed
 
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My professional car photographs get posted on car forums from time to time, and if it is clear the poster is not making money off my photos, I just send them a PM and ask them to edit the post to include my website address below the photo. I don't protect any of my food photos, because they are generally not up to professional standards.

But, all of my pro photos are copyright protected, and the copyright information is in the EXIF data, so I have a service that finds them whenever they show up online. I've only had to play hardball a few times. I had to get someone thrown off of YouTube last year. But, for the most part, people are reasonable, and I have been able to deal with people without any drama.

I think the same would apply to recipes. If somebody posts one of your recipes to a monetized website/blog, you can probably work it out with a couple of emails.

If someone uses a recipe at their restaurant, it is very doubtful you will ever know.

CD
 
well it seems like we are all in a basic agreement that the best solution for any recipe that could/might be monetized is this
 

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Years ago I entered a contest which requested original recipes in order to win a prize. I did not win. But my original recipes were then included in HER blog which she monetzied.

That's when I started to swear and I am a very proper lady!!!
 
Many food bloggers are very generous with their praise and support of each other. If they publish someone else's recipe they always give credit and/or a link. By the same token, if they have made slight changes it does become their recipe BUT they still say "Adapted from a recipe by XxxXxx"

Another member here was pretty upset when a catering company used one of her photo's on their web-site. One she had posted here and they lifted.
Haven't checked recently but when last I did the company itself had closed but the web-site, with her picture, was still there.
 
Years ago I entered a contest which requested original recipes in order to win a prize. I did not win. But my original recipes were then included in HER blog which she monetzied.

That's when I started to swear and I am a very proper lady!!!
That is an old scam. It's done to photographers and other artists too. There is usually something about that in the fine print of the contest rules. It will be tucked away where you aren't likely to see it, unless you were looking for it.
 
Even big companies like Pilsbury, etc who run contests always say that "Submitted articles (whatevers) become the property of...."

That's why I don't enter my photographs into contests. I own the copyright to every image I make, period. My customers pay for "limited usage rights" when they are me. Ad agencies and big companies who use a lot of professional photography understand that, and it is printed on my estimates and invoices. I occasionally have to explain it to smaller customers who think that paying me means they own my images. Photo contests seem to always want to own the images, so they can resell them for profit.

CD
 

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