Message 4706 of 20656 in Recipe Exchange

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I'm not a lawyer either but I'm a graphic designer and song writer so I know 
lot about copyrighting, trademarking, etc.

Basically the only thing you're going to be able to copyright is the NAME of 
the drink. That's about it. Think about it. You can't copyright the contents 
because those are made by someone else with their own names. Like, you can't 
copyright "Rum". Nor can you copyright a drink that has "Rum" and "Tequila" or 
whatever. You can only copyright the name OF the Rum and Tequila. 

The reason why someone WOULD copyright the NAME of a drink is for the most 
obvious reason: the drink has gained notariety and many people are starting to 
refer to it with one name. This is actually quite rare but things like 
WEBTENDER are helping this concept luckily (although I can't tell you how many 
different names there are for a basic Screwdriver... it's really funny). 
Anyway, you copyright something that is (or will be) known. This means it gets 
printed in books, magazines and other publications (digital or print). This is 
going to be the ONLY time you get to make money from the name. Because the 
publication's author and/or editor don't want to call it by another name since 
it's a popular drink, and the recipe for that drink will drive sales for them. 
You, as a result, get royalties.

Copyrighting is simple. As soon as you name it, it's copyrighted. If you want 
proof for possible future litigation, just mail the recipe to yourself as 
registered mail. This has been used before in cases where someone knew that 
someone else might steal their idea. But the official way is to register 
and/or trademark the name. But once you go this route, you have to 
continuously prove the originality of your name against others that might have 
a stronger case. For instance, if the name of your drink sounds similar to 
another one, and you two are competing in the same space, then you might be 
FORCED to lose your name because it causes "confusion in the market place". 
Let's say I had a chain of bars that served a drink called a Margherita. My 
drink was getting very popular, and the drink was made with tomato sauce and 
basil (like a margherita pizza) to make some bloody mary-like drink. This 
could cause confusion in the market place if there was an owner of the 
already-famous Margherita drink with Tequila and Sour Mix (I don't know if 
there is a copyright holder per se, but I'm just using it as an example) made 
famous by Jimmy Buffet and the like. There is a definite consumer confusion, 
and you'd lose your butt.

So, even though Copyright is definitely a serious legal endeavour, realize 
that it's just common sense and with that, you have to realize that there 
might be no reason to even try to copyright the drink.

Hope this helps...

Jeff