Can a Cocktail Be Copyrighted?

It depends.

Like all other creative individuals, bartenders are looking to get into the intellectual property field. According to The Atlantic, bartenders are increasingly seeking protection for their concoctions. One bartender, Eban Freeman–who also led the a recent symposium on IP and bartending (yes, you read that correctly)–seems to think this is a natural progression:

“In no other creative business can you so easily identify money attached to your creative property,” Freeman went on. “There is an implied commerce to our intellectual property. Yet we have less protection than anyone else.”

When asked if bartenders and creative individuals should safeguard their ideas, Freeman was adamant:

“I think all creative people at one point or another start to think about these things.”

It’s a decent article, but like many others I’ve read recently, it makes a major mistake by conflating copyright and trademark. You be the judge: read the entire article from The Atlantic here.

Tags: alcohol, commercial recipes, fair use, performance, piracy