That seems to be true for the most part, but if your recipe contains a lengthy narrative or something, the work as a whole could be covered by copyright[1].

I've seen this in a lot of blogs and recipe books, but I don't know how far it extends, and I'm sure someone could extract just the base recipe from the narrative and the derivative work wouldn't violate copyright.

- [1] https://paleoflourish.com/recipe-copyright/#protected

Yes, but in that case the copyright extends to the literary work, not the recipe (i.e. the technical process) itself.

Once you have published a cooking recipe you cannot prevent anyone from recreating the dish by following that recipe, even restaurants.

Yup. In Europe you don't copyright "ideas" but expressions of them. If a whistle a song and you make a song out of it and sell millions of copies, then I can't claim anything. Now, if I have a sheet of music with that tune written on it, that predates your own version, then I win.

That's made to ensure that ideas are free to flow. That's very good for auhtors (and society in general, as far as I'm concerned)

They are under Australian copyright law

Kinda, sorta, but not in the way most people think.

> Copyright does not protect information about the ingredients or cooking methods.

> It is not an infringement of copyright to watch someone prepare a dish and write down the ingredients and method in your own words.

What's copyrighted, is the word-for-word original reference. If you reword it, then that's free to disseminate.

It isn't what people think of as a recipe - the ingredients and methods involved. It's just that particular copy of the ingredients and methods involved.

[0] https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod/ACC/Information_Sheets...

Not exactly just minor rewording because you could still be in breach. You need to make major modifications.

Patenting an innovative recipe is perfectly allowed though, including design patents of the innovative look of the item.

This kind of cheese is not considered innovative enough though.

If it's distinguishable enough, you can also trademark the thing.

> Not exactly just minor rewording because you could still be in breach. You need to make major modifications.

Again, only kinda. Techniques, styles, methods, ingredients, timings, quantities are all not covered by your copyright.

A bare-bones recipe would likely not be covered by copyright, as it has nothing in it that is copyrightable. Only when you expound on reasoning of methods, or cautions do you start to get things that can be copyrighted.

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> Patenting an innovative recipe is perfectly allowed though, including design patents of the innovative look of the item.

I'm not sure what has given you that idea. Generally speaking, in Australia, a process that creates an edible item, is not patentable. These are set out as non-patentable:

> Capable of being used as a food or medicine and is a simple mixture of known ingredients (section 50(1)(b)(i))

> Is produced by mere admixture (section 50(1)(b)(ii))

Unless the process itself is inventive, and involves techniques out-of-reach of the average person, it probably is not patentable.

However, you can trademark items that are not fit for the patent office, that has a lesser set of requirements.