Hi Carol,

Here's what I think:

It's much easier to copy a link/URL to the page containing the recipe, than to copy the whole recipe and post it elsewhere.

When a link is posted instead of the recipe, people who like the recipe can check the rest of the recipes and bookmark the original website if they like it. But when posting the recipe, people would have no idea where it came from, and will have have to search/ask and spend time to find where it came from and what else the author has to offer.

The above is not a legal opinion (I have no idea what's the legal way to do it) just a webmaster's view on common courtesy between websites/boards.

Wa'il