<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Well,

I certainly got some terrific and detailed responses on this topic!  As 
well, many of you were wondering about the same questions I had.  I will 
simplify my post by sending you the three, responses that seemed to 
cover all the possible details.  The are as follows:

1.  If you use a recipe as a starting base and make several changes to 
it (at least three changes, and not merely superficial changes such as 
changing "1 cup soy milk" to "1 cup rice milk"), it's now your own. A 
recipe "formula" is only covered under copyright law if it is part of a 
larger creative whole- such as a cookbook or a @copyrighted recipe 
collection on a blog or website (and many bloggers- myself included- 
develop original recipes from scratch).

Usually bloggers will post their copyright and usage preference- - 
either "© All rights reserved" (which retains all rights to the material 
and discourages copying and reposting without written permission) or 
"Creative Commons ©" which allows reposting with proper credit and links 
to the original material.

In the case of getting a base formula from someone else and changing it, 
bloggers use the term "adapted from..." and mention the original recipe, 
with a link to it. If it's from a cookbook, say, "Adapted from The Joy 
of Cooking Spice Cake recipe". Some even include the page number (though 
only if it is verbatim).

Note that text, intros, personal stories, descriptions and instructions 
are copyrightable and protected; you must rewrite them in your own words.

Companies like Pamela's or Arrowhead Mills don't mind the mention on a 
blog- it's free advertising (unless you use one of their website 
recipes- then you'd need to give them full credit for the recipe (they 
paid someone to develop it) and a link would be good form.

Good blog etiquette is important, and the food blogging community is a 
tight one- they watch out for each other (stealing is a thorny issue). 
Mentioning the original recipe in your post with the "adapted from" and 
linking to it will gain you new friends and allies (posting it as solely 
your own if it's a unique recipe from someone else and people recognize 
the source of the recipe [it's a small world!] and see that you don't 
mention the original inspiration is considered bad form and may sour 
potential readers/supporters).

Needless to say, photographs and images are copyrighted by law and may 
not be used without permission from the photographer or artist.

2.  I worked with a recipe consultant when I started Sylvan Border Farm 
products. He told me that if you change two ingredients, then it is not 
an infringement on someone else's recipe. Often gluten-free recipes 
contain a combination of more than one gluten-free flour, so with the 
change flour you have met the standard. I would change more than the 
flours. Xanthan gum is another change. I never look at gluten-free 
cookbooks, because then I can not be accused of using someone else's 
recipe. You will notice that the people who write gluten-free cookbooks 
watch this Listserv closely.

3.  I'm a writer with a gluten-free website, since I teach cooking
classes and am writing a GF cookbook. My husband and I also are
journalists, and we wrote a cooking column for Gannett for seven years.
Here's what I know about copyright and recipes: Copyright laws are pretty
clear. You cannot copyright a list (a list of recipe ingredients), but you
CAN copyright the description you write to explain how to use the list in
a recipe.

Don't worry about what you might list in your ingredients, and don't worry
about naming brand names. But do your very best to write your recipe
description in your own words. If your recipe is inspired by a particular
person's recipe, I would suggest that you cite the author and the book as
well as the publisher, as a courtesy.

I hope I did not leave anything important out!

Thanks again to ALL who responded,

Lynda Swink

P.S.   For all those that asked - here is my recipe for  "Lightly Spiced 
Cake" filed under the heading tab of
"The Domestic Queen of Hazel Green"  at:   http://pixilatedtoo.wordpress.com

*Please provide references to back up claims of a product being GF or not GF*
*******
To unsubscribe, email: mailto:[log in to unmask]
*******