Copyright law basically says that the list of ingredients is not subject to copyright law, but the "substantial literary expression" --directions, explanations, a cookbook--are. This seems to be mostly in theory. According to a Washington Post article, "lawsuits are rare" in the professional world, and one of their sources says that "it's highly unlikely" that someone would be sued for posting a recipe on the Internet, and that it would also be "unusual to receive a nasty letter about it." Because cooking kind of feeds on itself (you get a recipe from someone, you try and imitate it at home), it doesn't seem like a big field for litigation. Additionally, copyright protects new creations--it doesn't seem like a crepe is even a 20th century idea (some early copyrights from the 20th century have already gone into expiration).
Source(s):
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

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