Hi Matilda,
I am thinking about writing a cookbook and eventually publish it (not just in the family). I have been collecting recipes for a long time; some of them are my own and some of them “have no author,” meaning that I don’t know where I got them from. Therefore, I’m left wondering: how do copyrights work with cookbook recipes?
Thanks,
Mara

Great question, Mara! While all of us here at The Cookbook People don’t profess to be legal experts, generally speaking, individual recipes are not typically considered creative works and are not usually protected under copyright law.

However, if you put recipes into a cookbook collection with narrative and photos that are unique to your own life, that distinctive cookbook collection would be considered a creative work and could be copyrighted as a whole.

Here is a link to the U.S. Copyright Office that explains the concept of recipe copyright more fully: recipe copyright.

If some of your collected recipes are not identifiable or come from other cookbooks, and you still want to include them in your own family cookbook, here are a few suggestions to keep you honest and avoid that dreaded P word: plagiarism.

Reproducing recipes from a known cookbook or website:
If you use an exact recipe verbatim, you should give full credit to the cookbook, website or newspaper from which it originated, with specific dates of publication, if possible. If you plan to sell the cookbook for profit or even as a fundraiser, make every effort to get permission to reprint the recipe directly from the publisher/owner. This is called “CYA.”

What if you alter the recipe? Changing a few ingredients here and there to your own tastes essentially changes any printed recipe and creates a new one. But you should always give credit to the source of the new recipe by adding a footnote such as “Inspired by a recipe in Southern Living magazine, 1978,” for example. Part of the joy of developing new recipe ideas is the ability to share them so others can try and enjoy them.

Reproducing recipes from an unidentifiable old clipping:
When you do not know where the recipe came from, adding a simple “Original Source Unknown” as a footnote to the recipe indicates that it came from elsewhere, and that you truthfully do not claim ownership of it (but you do use and enjoy it).

You might check the local newspaper to see if there are similar recipes in their food section database. Often collectors clip recipes from the local newspaper, not paying attention to keep the date or publication name intact with the clipping.

Reproducing hand-written recipes from family members:
Again, assuming you have permission to reprint the family recipes (because everyone knows you are creating a family cookbook and have agreed to help), the best thing to do is to give credit to the family member and add a date on the bottom of the recipe, such as circa 1940. If at all possible, at the end of every original family recipe, insert a copyright symbol and date (© 1940) if you want to claim ownership of the family recipe.

To publish for profit, formally copyright your cookbook:
When you create a cookbook of your own for personal use, it is automatically copyrighted and you do not have to apply for a copyright from the U.S. Copyright Office. But if you want to protect your cookbook as your intellectual property so that others cannot profit from it, you must have your cookbook copyrighted. It is proof in a court of law that you are the creator of the cookbook.

Explore more websites regarding copyrights, recipes and creating cookbooks by clicking on the links below:
Copyright recipes
Copyrighting Recipes

As always, Mara, when in doubt, find a legal expert to help and advise you.

Happy cookbook making.

Matilda

The Cookbook People software includes database features. Don’t be scared away by the term “database”. The user interface is extremely user-friendly. You just type in the recipe and any info about its origin which you desire. Then fill in any fields you want. Choices include recipe author, birthdate, address, biography, etc. All this information gets stored in the behind-the-scenes database.

Thanks for the nice review, Eileen.

Matilda

Here’s a quote:

A Boise woman is marketing a computer program that helps people record their favorite recipes.

Erin Miller says she got the idea after realizing she didn’t know how to make the English Christmas cake that her mother and grandmother had baked when she was just a girl.

Miller says if she didn’t figure out a way of documenting these recipes, she could lose track of her roots.

After that, she helped create “Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software.”

She says there are not only places in the program for people to write recipes, but also to record information about their family histories.

Click here to see the interview about The Cookbook People.
Click here for the accompanying story.

Click here to see her recipe for English Christmas Cake.

Here’s a quote from the story:

Boise woman’s family recipes a big seller online
December 24th, 2007

In kitchens the world over traditional holiday foods are being prepared tonight. But for one local lady preserving those culinary customs is turning into recipe for success! Erin Miller’s kitchen creation is now selling like hot cakes. Alyson Oüten spoke with author.

Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software was created by The Cook Book People, a company based in Boise, Idaho. With the program, users can compile and print copies of family recipes on a home computer using more than two dozen templates.

Link

Here’s a nice little piece about The Cookbook People in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Unfortunately, they got our website name wrong (there’s no “the” in CookbookPeople.com). None the less, here’s a little piece of the cookbook software story:

Make your own cookbook

Know someone who wants to preserve precious family recipes or should be writing a cookbook of their own?

Perhaps you’ve considered a cookbook of your own.

Or your group is looking at fund-raising ideas.

If so, give a friendly nudge or put your computer to work with easy, flexible software that makes home publishing accessible to all.

Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software ($29.95 at www.thecookbookpeople.com or www.amazon.com) is a great gift for the family chef or food historian. Prepare keepsake family editions for reunions or weddings. Create volumes for charity or church fund-raisers.

Layout is automatic – just type in recipes, choose from 27 design options, and press “print” for one or more copies at little more than the cost of paper and toner.

A Cookbook Christmas Kit (software plus easy binding kit) is $37.90.

- Marilynn Marte

HOMEMADE COOKBOOKS

As families gather for holiday parties and dinners, there usually is an exchange of recipes. Sometimes one person will decide to copy and compile them into a booklet. It’s a time-consuming chore, unless you seek help from CookbookPeople.com.

Company owners Ted and Erin Miller sell software that lets users print a cookbook from home, drastically cutting the cost of printing copies. Users simply type the information in the space provided.

“We started this software business two years ago because we honestly believe in our slogan, ‘Food makes family.’ As families become more spread apart, there’s an increasing need for ways for us to share our traditions. What can bind better than the smells and tastes of our family recipes?” Ted Miller said.

“You can look on the Internet and find 10 million recipes for meatloaf. But none of them will taste quite like your own mom’s meatloaf. If your mom passes on without sharing that recipe, you are losing not just a cherished family member, but a cooking tradition that honors her,” he said.

The company’s software lets you easily create a professional-looking cookbook, and you can see the cookbook in its entirety, with covers, address book, birthday calendar and biography sections built-in, Miller said.

“Make your family cookbook a living, breathing document that gets added to regularly, not just by you but by everyone,” Miller said.

In your family cookbook you can include: photos of events and family members, a short family tree or bibliography, address book, and birthday calendar.

Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook software ($29.95) at www.cookbookpeople.com does all the organizing for you.

The Cookbook People are making a splash in today’s Idaho Statesman:
Software helps save cherished family recipes in personal cookbooks

But what if you could whip up your own family cookbook, full of recipes you remember from your childhood, plus new additions from your daughter-in-law or your next-door neighbor? And what if you could put that cookbook together almost like magic (read: easy-to-use software)?

That’s what Erin Miller of Boise did. The result is Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software. If you decide to give it a try, you won’t be the only one – it’s the No. 1-selling software in the cooking and health category on Amazon.com.

Every day we seem to make a little more headway in making the world aware of how easy it is to make family cookbooks.

Sharon Thompson, Food writer for the Lexington Herald-Reader, has written a delightful piece about us in her blog this morning–A Family Cookbook Can Be a Family Yearbook.

Here’s a short quote:

Company owner Erin Miller sells software that lets users print a cookbook from home, drastically cutting the cost of printing copies. Users simply type the information in the space that’s provided.

Family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas are an ideal time to pitch a cookbook. Bring a few copies of a short mock-up of your idea and let the relatives get a feel for how it will look when it is done. “They will be much more responsive in helping you out,” Miller said.

“Make your family cookbook a living, breathing document that gets added to regularly, not just by you but by everyone,” Miller said.

Thank you for the press, Sharon!