The Project
Foodrights Entertainment Law aims to promote culinary culture by carrying out activities of promotion and protection of the rights of culinary works of “starred” (and not starred) chefs, as well as all the “artists” who work in the world of food.
The Protection.
The culinary recipe, understood as the original combination of ingredients used to make a particular dish, is not in itself susceptible to authoritative protection. This is what has been maintained for some time by national and foreign jurisprudence. In fact, there is a protection of the recipe only if the same is transposed in a written text or an oral presentation, provided that there are the requirements of copyright, or that the description of this recipe has a creative character, intended as original expressive form.
With the Foodrights project, we have taken a step forward in favor of creative chefs – as well as all the “artists” who work in the world of food – and we have come to support, on the basis of the legal provisions indicated below, that it is possible to protect those dishes that present their creative character in their aesthetic representation.
Therefore, the culinary works of a chef and/or artists working in the world of food – where they present a minimum of creativity (as required by unanimous jurisprudence) – are comparable to the works of drawing and/or similar figurative arts and in some cases of sculpture, as well as works of industrial design if the creative character is also flanked by artistic value.
The protection of the aesthetic shape of a plate is therefore found in our Copyright Law, n.633/1941 (l.d.a.), in the following articles:
– Article 1: “Intellectual works of genius belonging to literature, music, visual arts, architecture, theater and cinematography are protected under this law, whatever the way or form of expression “;
– art. 2 n.4), n.5) and n.10): “In particular the following are included in the protection:
4. the works of sculpture, painting, the art of drawing, engraving and similar figurative arts”; 5. “of design and architecture”. “… regardless of the manner or form of expression”; 10. “The works of industrial design that present in themselves a creative and artistic value”.
Furthermore, it is unanimous in doctrine and jurisprudence that the list of art. 2 l.d.a. has an indicative and non-exhaustive nature, so all works that have the characteristics of novelty and creativity can be protected as the object of a “concretization, extrinsication or exteriorization” process: in any form and manner!
Obviously, not all chef’s dishes are protected but only those that meet the requirements of the above law. Evaluation takes place from time to time to ensure that all dishes have the requirements asked from the above law.
Promotion of Chef's works
With the Foodrights project, a process of decontextualization of culinary works is being undertaken, for the purpose of promoting culinary works in different forms, to develop many activities as planned, such as:
a) the development of museum format, through which – in divulging the culinary culture – you will understand the similarity of a dish of a chef to a work of ingenuity (drawing, painting, etc.). See museum section;
b) the licensing activity, which with the circulation of culinary works in conjunction with objects of any consumer and/or collection sector (for example in the fashion, design and entertainment sectors in general), will open the market to new business models.