Ownership
The text, photos, and recipe cards on this site are written and produced by Melissa for Chef Melissa (chefmelissa.shop). They are protected by copyright. The brand name "Chef Melissa" and the CM mark are unregistered trademarks of the site operator.
What you can do without asking
- Read, save, or print a recipe for your own kitchen.
- Share the URL of a recipe on social media or by email.
- Quote a sentence or two with attribution and a link back to the original page.
- Cook the recipes in your home kitchen for any number of family, friends, or paying private guests.
What you need permission for
- Republishing a full recipe (ingredients + method) on another website, app, newsletter, social account, or printed product.
- Reusing a photo from this site anywhere else.
- Using a recipe or photo to train a machine-learning model.
- Selling anything that contains my work (a recipe pack, a printed cookbook, a meal-plan PDF).
- Using "Chef Melissa" as the name of a product or service.
Permission requests go to hello@chefmelissa.shop. Tell me what you want to use, where, for how long, and whether the project is commercial. I usually answer within a week.
About recipe-specific copyright
Under copyright law in most jurisdictions, a list of ingredients alone is generally not protected, but the way I describe a method, the structure of the page, the photos, the kitchen notes, and the substitutions are protected as creative writing. Re-publishing the prose around a recipe, or my photos, without permission is not allowed.
Filing a complaint about content here
If you believe content on this site infringes your copyright, send a message to hello@chefmelissa.shop with:
- Your name and contact information.
- The URL on chefmelissa.shop that contains the allegedly infringing content.
- The original work you say it infringes (URL or attached file).
- A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorised by you, your agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information in your notice is accurate, and (under penalty of perjury, where that applies) that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on their behalf.
- Your physical or electronic signature.
Once I receive a notice that meets those points, I'll either remove the content or contact you to resolve it.
If you think I removed your content by mistake
Send a counter-notice to the same address with the URL of the content, the reason you believe the original removal was wrong, and your contact information. I'll review and reply.
Linking to this site
Linking is welcome. You don't need to ask. Use a normal text link or quote a sentence with attribution. Please don't deep-link images directly from chefmelissa.shop into your site (hotlinking) — download a copy under permission instead.