The short answer is that a single recipe is unlikely to receive much, if any, copyright protection, and a collection of recipes will be protected in its creative aspects, but less protected as to the specific ingredients and steps required to prepare a given dish. An author or cook considering publishing his or her recipes should approach the subject carefully.

Conclusion

Recipes are unusual in the copyright context. Although they are written down by an author, and may reflect great creativity on the part of a cook, courts view recipes more as statements of a process than as literary works. The distinction is not necessarily a clear one. A cook might rightly ask, if the choreography of a dance can be copyrighted, why can't the steps for preparing a meal? Both have an outcome that may be considered art. Yet a court might hesitate to follow this reasoning for fear that its decision would be used to support the copyright of any set of instructions, which the copyright act rejects. Cooks who wish to record their recipes, therefore, face a bit of a quandary. While a good cookbook can produce a nice return for its author, other publishers and authors may make some use of its recipes. In order to secure the most protection for published recipes, an author should consider consultation with a lawyer experienced in copyright issues.