A chef’s copyright (copyright law/recipe/dishes/photo)

A chef’s copyright (copyright law/recipe/dishes/photo)

Li Dongtao

Description: A chef can be the author of a recipe book.

The case

Yes i'm a chef…

I am recipe book.

This is a case about “chef + book”.

The plaintiff is a famous chef in Beijing.

The defendant is a newspaper.

The plaintiff is the author of a book about recipes of traditional Sichuan Dishes. The book was published in 1996.

In the book, each dish was shown with a photo and some humous words of detailed explanation, and the plaintiff took the photos himself.

 In 2007, the defendant published two articles and eight photos to present some Chinese dishes in its newspaper, such as Pickled Chinese Cabbage with Fish. These articles and photos were taken from the plaintiff’s book, but without the plaintiff’s name.

The plaintiff sued the defendant for copyright infringement.

The defendant argued the copyright infringement was not established because recipes of the dishes in the book are in the public domain.

Analysis

The copyright infringement is established.

Any chef may prepare the same dishes by using the same recipe like the plaintiff, but putting the recipes on a piece of paper is a different job that requires visualization and creation.

So, the plaintiff’s book is a work, others cannot appropriate the results without cost.

In short, a cook can be the copyright owner of a recipe book.

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