Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Re: copyright Answers

As to the 5,000 web sites, the answer is that you may not republish what you found unless (1) the site expressly gives permission or (2) you obtain permission from the copyright owner. Getting permission will usually involve paying for it, but aside from that the prospect of seeking permission from 5,000 different copyright holders sounds rather daunting. Additionally, some of the sites may contain other material which is copyrighted by other persons and you would need to identify them and get their permission as well. This doesn't strike me as a practical way to make money.

I haven't looked at the drink recipe site so I'm not sure what to tell you. If the recipes are generic then you can use them -- but only the recipes themselves and *NOT* the manner in which they are presented on the site. Since I haven't looked at the site and don't really go for mixed drinks anyway, I couldn't begin to tell you which of the recipes, if any, are generic.

Keep in mind that many web sites make their money on a per-click basis when a visitor goes to a page advertised on the site. Your proposed CD would make the pages available to your customers without giving the site owners any opportunity to collect their payments, so they definitely don't want anyone doing what you want to do.