Reworking recipes from the internet to publish on own blog

[vivacity]

Hallo!

Yupp, I'm still waiting for my TM to arrive and have been rummaging the Internet to find great recipes to try out.

I want to write about cooking my first recipes with the TM on a blog so that I can bore entertain family and friends with my capers.

My question:

If, for example, I want to try out the following recipe http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513670 and rewrite the instructions for the TM, can I post a link to the recipe and then say how I adapted the prep steps and include my own photo of the finished product? Or is this in any way "naughty", i.e. an infringement of copyright law?

I'd appreciate any tips from experienced bloggers out there!

Thanks in advance

[brazen20au]

i do it though honestly i have no idea if it's ok. i have figured that if i give acknowledgement to the original owner of the recipe and don't try to pass it off as mine it's ok (hopefully!)

[vivacity]

Thanks for the info! Yes, it's probably just important to name the source and use your own photos.

It's funny that although there are so many Thermomix enthusiasts out there, the number of blogs is relatively small. The blogs in Germany are mainly run by TM representatives so there's a lot of hype, but not many recipes.

[brazen20au]

i think a lot of people don't feel comfortable doing recipe conversions. there's really not that many people here on this board who actually convert their own recipes and post them.

[vivacity]

Thanks for answering!

Well, I've been looking through the German recipe book and it's quite good for ideas.

This week I'm going to try to adapt at least one "normal" recipe from another cookery book (I borrowed a few from the local library at the weekend) for the TM and see how it works out. I've just ordered the book "Just one pot" by Lindsey Bareham from Amazon to see if she has any good recipes that I can rework for the TM. I was really surprised yesterday that my goulash (recipe from TM book) turned out so well, OK Hungarian hubby added more red wine and paprika at the end but it tasted really nice and rich (and the onions didn't taste bitter from being chopped in the TM which was my biggest fear). I think I'll try a curry next, then I will truly appreciate my TM

[brazen20au]

looking forward to your conversions

[Tenina]

Recipes are pretty tricky to copyright...but short of cutting and pasting directly into your own document, passing it off as your own, I think you are safe in adapting and giving credit.
The method, after all, is completely original unless copying from another Thermomix recipe, (which we all know has happened in the past...bygones, be bygones T!! )
Anyway Vivacity, I say you go girl and let us know the link to your blog....so at least I can put it on both my site and the Thermomix blog as a resource as well.

[vivacity]

Hi, Tenina!

Thanks for the encouragement At the moment I'm just getting acquainted with the buttons, but I'll let you know once I start posting recipes on my blog. My students have their final exams next week so I'll probably flee into the kitchen occasionally between marking papers to relax and experiment on the TM. Luckily, I have a TM cookery course this Wednesday which I'm hoping will help me to convert recipes. If I get any good recipes from that evening, I'll let you all know.

[AuntAnnie]

In the US (and we have terribly restrictive copyright laws, thank you Mr. Bono), recipes are considered "formulas" and are therefore not copyright-able. However, if the recipe is written in language like "I placed the mixture into my grandma's lovely blue-flowered bowl that I borrowed from Aunt Julia..." then it is no longer a formula, but copyright-able prose.

Also, a book of recipes is considered to come under copyright laws as a COLLECTION. That means you can't xerox the whole book and redistribute it. But you CAN copy any of the recipes. Just can't pass the collection off as your own. I would assume a Recipe Blog would be the same way.

As a common courtesy, most people try to cite their source. You can say "Adapted from" or whatever. And if it is a website, most people express that they would like a link back if you use their stuff. Most people post their recipes because they want others to use them.

Using trademarked ingredients in a recipe is another issue. But, again, most companies don't complain about free advertising. . So Philadelphia Cream Cheese is actually a trademarked item. Cream Cheese is not. But I have never read where Kraft sued anybody for trademark infringement when they printed (or posted or blogged) "Philadelphia Cream Cheese".

I have seen many, many community cookbooks that had recipes in them that were exactly the same and were attributed to many different people (contributing members). Recipes soon become part of the common pool of knowledge known as Public Domain.

That's the view from the US. Other countries I do not know.