Publishing recipes - using other people's recipes?

[shooting star]

Some healer friends and I are looking at publishing a quarterly magazine about alternative healing in our area. I am really keen to publish regular articles about the benefits of a raw food diet and I would like to publish 2 or 3 recipes with photos I have taken per issue.

So what are the rules about publishing recipes? Do they have to be my own original ones, or can I publish someone else's recipes? If so do I have to have their express written permission, or can I just publish and credit to them? Are the rules different if it previously appeared in a book or on a blog.

Also what about recipes like Almond Mylk or spinach and mango green smoothie that don't have a credited creator?

Any help gratefully received :)

[rawstrawberry]

Hey there,

Your best bet when using someone else's recipe is to always get permission from them personally. Try to get it in a written or at least email traceable format.

For recipes that are not your own and you cannot find who created them I would make a note of that (author unknown)

Hope that helps,

RS

[jgunn]

its always a good idea to ask the person first

but copyright (american) law states:

Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. However, where a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection.

Protection under the copyright law (title 17 of the United States Code, section 102) extends only to “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form (a copy). “Original” means merely that the author produced the work by his own intellectual effort, as distinguished from copying an existing work. Copyright protection may extend to a description, explanation, or illustration, assuming that the requirements of the copyright law are met.

[shooting star]

Marvellous that's just what I was looking for. Thanks guys.

I'm going to have a think about which recipes I want to use then approach the authors. I'm also going to have a go at creating my own.