I am not an attorney, and an attorney is better qualified to
advise you on this matter.
Off the top of my head, I say you do not need to get/pay for
permission; i.e., the
Copyright Law of the United States of
America states:
"In no case does copyright protection for an original work of
authorship extend to any idea,
procedure, process, system,
method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless
of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or
embodied in such work."
I assume most recipe books are copyrighted because they
contain other wording in addition to the recipes. I looked at a
couple of index card type recipes, and I did not see a copyright
notice. You should do the same, but locate various sources just
to be sure. If you do find one that says copyrighted, it may
be because it has a photograph and/or illustration, etc.
You will not be able to use a photograph/illustration/etc
from a copyrighted recipe book, unless you get/pay for
permission, and/or it falls under the public domain
exclusionary rule, etc.
If you don't get a response from an attorney in this thread,
you might write/e-mail and ask (one or more of the following)
if recipes can be copyrighted:
a cookbook publisher, food/family magazine, food manufacturer
such as Krafts, Campbells Soup, etc. who want consumers to
buy their products, but also produce/print recipes.
If recipes do not fall under the protection of copyright laws,
it seems only fair to credit any known inventor, for lack of
a bettor word, of the recipe.
If recipes are protected under copyright laws, you will need
to get/pay for permission:
http://www.nolo.com/lawstore/products/product.cfm/ObjectID/4835B5AF-0C35-4540-A4FE20738596443E
Please let us know what you are able to determine; i.e., there
may be a repeat of your question from another member.
Citizen Brown
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, and anything/everthing in this
post may be erroneous. This response is neither a recommen-
dation nor advertisement for any publisher, book, book seller,
author, and/or web site.
