[codefreeordie]

The purely-mechanical portion of the recipe (list of ingredients and instructions) are excluded from copyright. Any other non-mechanical content (pictures, but also descriptions of the recipe or all that flavor/story text that pollutes modern online recipe sites ) will be protected by copyright.

Additionally, it is likely that collation or curation of the recipes into categories or collections or sites is protected by copyright.

Finally, if the website posts terms and conditions which limit or restrict your access, you might end up with some liability should you violate them. This is still an area of law that is shifting, but according to the American Bar Association, courts now somewhat routinely enforce terms-and-conditions when clear notice is given to the user and the terms are not unduly long or confusing. In general, the situations most likely to be enforceable are when the user sees a clear prompt to agree to the Ts and Cs, and clicks an I Agree button. The further away from such a clear agreement one strays, the less likely a court is to consider access/use of the site as agreement to the Ts and Cs as a binding contract.

I am not a lawyer, I am not representing you, and this is not legal advice