Earlier this week, the Sixth Circuit ruled the “Tomaydo-Tomahhdo Recipe Book” was not creative enough to warrant a copyright. The case started when Rosemarie Carroll (and related companies) sued her ex-partner, Larry Moore (and others) for copying her recipe book. Recipes and ingredient lists have never been copyrightable by themselves, but much like other compilations, when an author adds enough copyrightable material (such as photographs, descriptions, and the like), the book as a whole could be copyrighted. This case seemed more like a business dispute, and the trial court found that there was no copyrightable material taken by Moore – to the extent anything was taken, it was the ingredient lists and cooking instructions.
On appeal, rather than focusing on the cookbook’s originality, the court focused on what was unoriginal: the recipes, the ingredient lists, and the recipe directions. Finding each to be fact-based, the court concluded, “[Carroll] has not shown that any aspect of [her] recipe book is original and would therefore enjoy copyright protection.” Without a copyright to infringe, the court affirmed the district court’s ruling.