[KYHeirloomer]

Just to keep the record clear, here's how the copyright system works, both legally and in practical terms.

Under the law, you own all rights to intellectual and artistic property. That means that as soon as the work is produced it is real property, and you own it.

Used to be a concept called "automatic copyright," which said that as soon as the work was produced it was copyrighted. In one of the major revisions of the code they dropped that concept. Now, you own it as soon as it is produced, but unless it is registered, there is no copyright. Defending unregistered property is difficult.

Mailing yourself a copy of the work, and leaving the envelope unopened, is known in the trade as the "poor man's copyright." Sometimes it works. But in practical terms, if you can't afford to register the work, you can't afford to defend it anyway.

The law also specifies that a "significant difference" must exist between an old work and a new work, or else the new work is infringing on the copyright. That is to say, changing a couple of words here and there does not make it a new work.

That's what makes copyrighting recipes, per se, so difficult. Unlike, say, a short story or painting, where small changes do not effect the overall nature of the work, recipes can be totally changed with minor changes.

For instance, take a recipe with a long list of ingredients, among them, yogurt and dill. If you change that to sour cream and tarragon, have you created a new recipe? The courts would likely say yes.

All that aside, if a recipe has been published---that is to say, it has appeared in public---then it is covered under the copyright that protects the entire publication. A magazine, book, or internet site all fit in the legal concept "published." So, too, does tacking a broadbill up on a telephone pole, but you aren't likely to find a recipe there.

In practical terms, recipes, per se, are not copyrighted. And it's impossible to protect a copyright if there is one. Recipes are traded back and forth in magazines and books, with no accreditation, all the time. And, so far as the internet goes, the copyright laws may as well not exist.

What Nicko is saying, I believe, is that ChefTalk will not be part of that process. He recognizes that somebody, somewhere, owns the work, and doesn't want to reproduce it here without that person's permission. I wish more site owners would occupy that sort of ethical and moral high ground.

Meanwhile, if you want to share a recipe from a public source, best bet would be just to refer to the source, or link to the sight. Or take the time to obtain permission to reprint from the owner.

BTW, most of the time copyright owners have no problems granting you that right, so long as due credit is given. For instance, a cookbook publisher will gladly let you reprint one recipe from a book, in the hopes that it will encourage others to buy the book.

But the key is asking for, and obtaining, permission. It's not hard getting it. It just takes time.