I Paid for a Baking Workshop, Is It Permissible for Me to Pass the Recipe On to a Friend?

Question:

Hello Rabbi, I participated as of late in an expensive workshop for making sourdough. A good friend that does not live in the area (and there is no chance that she will make it to the workshop herself) asked for the recipe and the steps from me. The workshop director did not explicitly prohibit passing on the information, but if I were to ask her – it is reasonable to assume that she would refuse. Does the knowledge that I paid for ethically belong to me and am I thus permitted to share it, or is this negatively impacting the livelihood of the business owner?

Hello,

Yashar Koach for the question.

The topic of intellectual property is truly one of the most complex in halacha, for on one hand we cannot find the concept of intellectual property in ancient halacha regarding monetary law, however on the other hand we find a general prohibition against performing immoral acts, and the general obligation of “and you shall do what is just and good”.

Therefore, there is vast room for the question.

Despite this, it seems that it is difficult to find a prohibition of transferring information, for various reasons: whether for the reason that participation in the workshop was not based conditionally on this; whether due to the factthat this knowledge exists on the internet and is accessible to whoever seeks it, certainly in various professional contexts; whether due to the fact that in general, passing on knowledge that one learns is something of which the underlying assumption is that it is permissible – unless that are unique circumstances to prohibit it.

Therefore, it seems that you can pass on this information, however, don’t make it your commercial business, rather as a person amongst friends, etc.

All the best and Yashar Koach,

Yuval Cherlow

Head of the Tzohar Ethics Center