Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Copywrite of commercial Food Recipies

Yes, a recipe may be copyrighted just like any other work with an author (e.g., it's legally much like a story, poem, movie or computer program), and these rights may be sold or leased by the owner.

The "appropriate" cost is really a factor of how much the other party expects to make by exploiting the recipe and how much you think you could get by selling to someone else.

If you have, say, a recipe for french fries that your local diner wants, they might only be willing to pay a few hundred dollars. If you could persuade McDonalds to buy it, you might become a millionaire. I'd need to know a lot more about the specifics before I could even suggest a reasonable price range.

Edward Hoffman

Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

11620 Wilshire Boulevard, #340

Re: Copywrite of commercial Food Recipies

You can sell your recipe or you can license it. Licensing is like a lease on intellectual property, but because of the nature of copyright, you can have several licenses for the same property.

The value of your recipe depends on what you think it is worth and what the other party is willing to pay. Consider how many copies of your recipe will be made and where the books will sell. Will their use of your recipe affect your ability to license or sell the recipe to somebody else?

Timothy J. Walton

Internet Attorney

1896 San Ramon Avenue