Copyrite, Photos, & Recipes

I do enjoy seeing photos of recipes. However, I have noticed several posts that do not list the source. I do not have access to a digital camera, but have many of my own recipes to share. The personal photos of a recipe, tutorials, etc. imo, do not override a copyrite. Please, state your source. To be quite honest, I have held back on sharing my recipes, because there has been a constant "demand" for photos. I don't think this site wants to discourage cooks from sharing recipes simply because there isn't a photo. The "Challenges" may be great, but if one doesn't have a photo, I am eliminated before I start. Thanks for hearing me out.
 
Last edited:

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I can't speak for everyone else, but my source for my recipes is my head. All of my recipes have been made by me. I'm not saying I invented the recipe……nearly every recipe in every cookbook has been cooked before in some shape, form, or fashion. I didn’t invent Country Fried Steak, but I did invent my recipe for it….the list of ingredients I use, the steps I take to prepare it and cook it, etc. All of that in the "recipe" is mine.

And a lot of the other posters here do the same.

Pictures are not required for anything here other than the challenge threads. Other than that, feel free to post any recipe you like. Pictures are nice, but not required. There are many recipes here without pictures….including some of my older ones that I posted before I got a digital camera.

What's really neat is, even if you don't post a picture of the recipe, someone else may make it and then post a picture of how it turned out for them. That has happened here several times.
 

FryBoy

New member
Here's what the United States Copyright Office has to say about recipes:
Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds, or prescriptions are not subject
to copyright protection. However, when 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 U.S. 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.

For information on how to register, see the reverse side of this letter. For further information
on copyright, deposit requirements, and registration procedures, see Circular 1, Copyright
Basics. Deposit requirements depend on whether the work has been published at the time of
registration:

• If the work is unpublished, one complete copy

• If the work was first published in the United States on or after January 1, 1978, two complete
copies of the best edition

• If the work was first published in the United States before January 1, 1978, two complete
copies as first published

• If the work was first published outside the United States, one complete copy of the work as
first published

• If the work is a contribution to a collective work and was published after January 1, 1978,
one complete copy of the best edition of the collective work or a photocopy of the contribution
itself as it was published in the collective work

Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic,
or musical form. Copyright protection does not extend to names, titles, short phrases, ideas,
systems, or methods.

Sincerely yours,
Register of Copyrights
Here's the link to the publication: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.pdf
 

vyapti

New member
I think a number of us just like taking photos, but it's certainly not a requirement. There's plenty of posts that don't have 'em. As far as copyright goes, if you're posting something verbatim, it would probably be best to post a link, but it doesn't take much changing to make a new recipe. If the instructions are your own words, you've probably avoided copyright issues anyway.
 

CharlieD

New member
Actually I also do not have camera as of right now. But it is not the reason I would not post a recipe, and we know you have plenty of good ones, please just post them.
 

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Thanks guys. You did a better job than I at answering CC's questions / concerns.

CC I hope you'll share some of your favorite recipes and don't be surprised if one of the cooks here makes your recipe and takes a pic or two of it. Wouldn't that be awesome. :thumb: :D
 

Deelady

New member
I have very many times posted recipes without pictures as well as made recipes from here that did not include pictures. For me pictures are just an added bonus and not a reqirement....same as when I am purchasing a cookbook, I buy it mostly for the quality of the recipes, not the pictures.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
I too would not suggest "Photos a must" - but I have to say....

recipes on the internet abound by the thousands for any given dish.
a photo certainly catches my eye - it's a whole lot more effective than asking the reader to wade through the ingredients and directions attempting for formulate what it 'looks like'

I'm always oin the look-out for a different style, technique, presentation, look, [whatever] for the old standbys - a list of ingredients for (yet another) [fill in the blank] casserole is not likely to draw my attention unless there's a pix of something scrumptious looking.
 

UnConundrum

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I often search the web for a recipe, digest it, and pick out what I think is good and/or bad. Isn't that how we all learn?
 

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
Super Site Supporter
Like everyone said - you definitely don't have to have a picture to post a recipe, CC! I've noticed on some of the recipes you have posted that you added tips and notes about interesting substitutions, etc. That is sooo helpful and is every bit as useful to me, a novice cook, as pictures. So start posting those recipes, girlfriend!
 
Last edited:
Pictures are definitely optional.

Frankly, due to the gazillion things I have to do every day + the fact that my husband frequently works long/late hours, nine times out of ten I simply don't have the time or inclination to "set up" & take a picture of dinner before we eat.

It's never stopped me from posting a recipe.
 
Top