What is a recipe...

I've wondered about this for quite some time. What with people being prosecuted for digital versions of images and audio files I always seemed to jump to food as an analogy. Afterall, a digital recording is really not a recording at all, but rather a complex series of instructions; a recipe for a song, if you will...

Boing Boing: Panicked chefs propose copyrighted food

Think about it. Under current law you need a mechanical license to play music from a score. Is that any different than "performing" a dish from a recipe? Think of how much money the Alfredos stood to make had there been a copyright on Fettucini Alfredo. For that matter, what would the Earl of Sandwich's estate be worth - although I guess both of those would likely be in the public domain.

I know this pushes the limits of reasonableness, but nobody ever said the law was in any way reasonable. Someone that composes an original culinary creation and then fixes that creation in media ought to be entitled to copyright, and a chef doesn't seem all that much more ridiculous than a musician or a choreographer.

In the least it would be nice to be on the jury. Might come with free food.