❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

You can copyright music, so why not a food recipe?

Adriene Hill Dec 25, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY

You can copyright music, so why not a food recipe?

Adriene Hill Dec 25, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Entrepreneurs and business owners constantly face intense competition in attracting new customers and retaining old ones. They must stand out and be original. Which is why people register their original creations with the United States Copyright Office, to legally protect the logo, design, literary work, architecture, etc., that they have spent so much time and money on.  

But would you be able to do the same thing for, say, your homemade sugar cookies? Or any other food recipe for that matter?

Unfortunately, nope. Anyone can pass off your grandmother’s recipe that’s been passed through generations. “You can’t copyright the ingredients or steps necessary to make the cookie,” says Jane Ginsburg, professor at Columbia Law School.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.