Food and Copyright

A Chicken Sandwich Cannot Be Copyrighted, Court Rules

Man who put chicken inside a bun sought $10 million for theft of creative work.

Jon Brodkin | August 25, 2015

There are many things you can copyright, but a chicken sandwich is not one of them, a US appeals court panel ruled Friday.
Because of the ruling, a former employee of a fried chicken franchise is not entitled to a percentage of the profits from a sandwich he "authored," wrote Chief Judge Jeffrey Howard in the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The plaintiff, Norberto Colón Lorenzana, had filed a complaint seeking "All the earnings produced by his creation"—an amount not less than $10 million.

Source: http://fusion.net/story/188765/chicken-sandwich-copyright/

<more at http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/08/a-chicken-sandwich-cannot-be-copyrighted-judge-rules/; related links: http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/14-1698P-01A.pdf (No. 14-1698
NORBERTO-COLÓN LORENZANA; GLADYS GOZA-GONZÁLEZ; CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP COLÓN-GOZA, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SOUTH AMERICAN RESTAURANTS CORP.,
Defendant-Appellee, AFC ENTERPRISES INC.; CAJUN OPERATING COMPANY; CAJUN FUNDING CORP.; COMPANY A OF UNKNOWN; JOHN DOE, Defendants.) and http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/26/a-man-in-puerto-rico-tried-to-copyright-a-basic-chicken-sandwich/ (Man tries to copyright a chicken sandwich, learns that that’s completely ridiculous. August 26, 2015); furhter: https://www.facebook.com/creativecommons/photos/a.189281837776.121337.18870062776/10153377920117777/?type=1 (Copyright for Educators & Librarians)>