No, California Law Review, Food Plating Does Not Deserve Copyright Protection

Techdirt: Of all the mediums where intellectual property makes the least amount of sense, actual food and drink must certainly be among the most absurd. Not the trade dress of food packaging, mind you. I'm talking about the actual food and drink products themselves, be they craft beer or a plate of food. And, yet, you see this sort of thing crop up from time to time. A pizzeria somehow thinks it can trademark the taste of its pizza. Or, more apropos for today's post, a German court that says taking pictures of plated food could violate the copyright of the chef.