Can Sausage Recipes Be Copyrighted?

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:06

Can Sausage Recipes Be Copyrighted?

I`ve had a couple of books copyrighted. What a hassle! Can you copyright a sausage recipe? It`s even a bigger hassle!

You may be surprised with the answer. The US government's recipe copyright page says that a list of ingredients cannot be copyrighted. This basically means that anyone can copy a list of ingredients making no changes at all, and still not violate copyright law. However, if there's "substantial literary expression" involved (which means more than just simple straightforward directions), it may be reviewed by the copyright office for consideration.

Indeed patenting a recipe can be a confusing process if you don't understand the patent criteria for food compositions according to Terry Masters at Demand Media. He says a great recipe is only patentable under very narrow circumstances. The recipe must be:
1. useful
2. novel
3. non-obvious

Masters explains that the greatest recipe in the world is not patentable unless it involves a food formulation or application that has not been used before. It cannot be intuited by a cook merely tasting the final product.

The recipe must also be new and cannot be an old family recipe or something that was cooked for the public in the past, because an inventor has a limited window of time to patent an invention before it becomes available to the public domain.

So, is it worth the effort and cost to patent your recipe? Probably not. It is basically impossible to prove that somebody else has stolen your recipe and is selling it. For that reason, if you have a "secret sausage recipe", you might not want to reveal your recipe at all! By treating your recipe as a "trade secret" you would have perpetual protection so long as you did not reveal what your ingredients are. The bottom line? Recipes are not generally patented because the sanction is effective only seventeen years before becoming public domain. That's why Coca-Cola`s recipe is still a secret - it was never patented.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

vagreys · Post by **vagreys** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 19:32

A friend of mine and I have been discussing this very issue. My patent/copyright lawyer took the above position, as stated by the US Copyright Office, too. My friend pointed out that there has been a federal court decision that contradicts the US Copyright Office, and states that there is no substantial literary expression in a recipe's description and/or directions, and that the protection of recipes should be the domain of Patent law. I've got a request in to my lawyer about this decision and its impact as precedent.

The decision also distinguishes between the creative effort of choosing and compiling a collection of recipes into a cookbook, and the recipes themselves. The compilation as a whole may be protected under copyright law, but the individual recipes may not.

Interesting subject.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 00:10

The only reason to patent or copyright is to protect the market value of your creation. But if your creation will have no market value then spending for copyright or patent protection is a waste of money. No patent has market value until it has been tested in a court of law. So you have the initial cost of the copyright or patent and then the legal cost of defending it.
To find examples of how patents have been circumvented just study the many kitchen and bathroom faucet designs and details

DLFL · Post by **DLFL** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 00:20

No offence to anyone but;

All the many many years that sausage has been made I bet that very few recipes have not been made before. The exception would be when new products are introduced that is to be used in food products.

To think that any recipe or formula for food production is original is not even conceivable.

I do love controversial subjects though.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 06:14

Dick, I am in absolute agreement with you. I threw this subject out here to stir up some good conversation and also to let beginners know that their "secret sausage formulas" aren't so secret. I've always found that as sausage makers gain experience, they will eventually realize that the secret to making really great sausage lies in the techniques they employ to craft it more than focusing on specifically what goes into it.

Of course, one must use top-grade ingredients to have a top-grade sausage. Yet, even using the best of ingredients, if a sausage is simply thrown together without the little subtle touches we must use, we will invariably have a second rate weenie!

Ol' Rytek used the word "junk" a lot. He said, "If you use junk meat, you'll wind up with junk sausage". Then Stan Marianski came along and proved that it is equally or more important to know HOW to make it. Shucks pard, these two names are the pioneers in our craft.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Topic Split 3/10/12@1530 by Chuckwagon - See "Sticky Chat" in Hyde Park forum

NorCal Kid · Post by **NorCal Kid** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 19:03

Chuckwagon wrote:...also to let beginners know that their "secret sausage formulas" aren't so secret. I've always found that as sausage makers gain experience, they will eventually realize that the secret to making really great sausage lies in the techniques they employ to craft it more than focusing on specifically what goes into it.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

I completely agree with the notion that one's technique goes a long way to achieving satisfactory results in sausage-making. If it were 'just' the ingredients alone that produced the results, where would the challenge lie?

I am also compelled to reveal the source of whatever recipe I depict in my posts. Whether I alter them slightly or follow them to-the-letter, I always wish to credit those whose previous efforts have afforded many of us newbies a chance to produce some tasty products.

Kevin

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 23:32

NorCalKid wrote:

I am also compelled to reveal the source of whatever recipe I depict in my posts.

Absolutely Kevin! I think it is courteous and only right that credit be given where it is due. In my own collection, I've made use of Rytek's early recipes quite often and note it whenever possible even though he's been gone since '98.

DLFL · Post by **DLFL** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 14:24

As our Grandmothers would say " it is the love" that makes the difference. If you love what your doing it has to be better!

vagreys · Post by **vagreys** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 14:34

The topic is of particular interest to me, as a food historian working on medieval cookery manuscripts. I've worked on some of these manuscripts for years, including creating modern recipe interpretations of the originals. To me, this involves substantial creative effort, and knowing what is protected literary effort and what is not is important. It isn't a matter of thinking that I've got a recipe that has never been done, before, but it is important to understand what of my work is protected and what isn't. I have never considered my lists of ingredients to be protected, but I have thought my conclusions of my research and interpretations, and that literary commentary, were, including those expressed within the recipes.

Incidentally, next month, I'm going to be teaching a workshop on medieval sausage making and recipes from throughout Western Europe. For me, this is an active interest, not just theoretical or from the perspective of a user of recipes.

DLFL · Post by **DLFL** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 15:04

Tom,

That would be a workshop I would enjoy. Best of luck on your literary endeavors!

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 02:10

Vagreys, We had a neighbor in Connecticut by the name of Louis Untermeyer. He has his name on several works of poetry by American writers as edited by. That work is copyrighted.
Your work can be protected by copyright as edited and translated by. Modern copyrights attach to the work for at least the life of the creator.

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 12:09

So what if in the fine print an online web site claims the right to copy right of any posting made on it? If I post on this site I no longer own the right to my posting and it can be used by the site for profit. There is one site that I no longer contribute to because of this.

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 15:42

During my years in the chemical industry as a development engineer, most of my work was making incremental improvements to processes. I never received a patent, whereas the guys doing the fundamental research got scads of 'em. Mine were either kept as trade secrets, disclosed in print by others, or were published anonymously. The idea was that, once a technique or recipe became common knowledge, anyone could use it but, more importantly, no one could claim exclusive use.

So I usually include a cheesy joke in my writings, so nobody can copyright 'em.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 19:15

years ago somebody put swivel "D" handles on a wheelbarrow and applied for a patent on that change. Though a series of errors in writing he was granted a patent on the handles including the wheelbarrow. That of course invalidated the entire patent.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 06:12

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.