Therein lies a problem. The man is not in violation of copyright laws
because he is posting recipes he finds on web sites, no more than
anyone else is for posting any recipe. You can not copyright a single
recipe, only a collection of published recipes in the form of a recipe
book. Meaning that someone could reprint or pass-on any recipe from
that book or source as long as they didn't copy the entire source
(book, web site, etc.) completely and exactly. You can not copyright a
fact or idea, only the manner in which they are presented and a recipe
falls under facts and ideas. Just like you can't copyright a song,
only the lyrics.
Even if there were copyright laws for single recipes, he still would
not be in violation because he is not reproducing them for profit, nor
is he claiming to be the author of the recipes. This is because there
are certain infringements that the copyright law excuses under the
doctrine of "fair use." In an effort to define fair use, the copyright
law provides a four-factor test and failure to obtain profit or
personal claim falls under one of these factors, thus making it
exempt.
Here are some links about copyright laws and recipes (among others).
http://www.uncletaz.com/backyard/entheta/copyrght.html
http://www.keytlaw.com/Copyrights/faqs.htm#q1
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/octnews/oc020403.html
http://www.eff.org/IP/ip_and_electronic_data.paper
He is not in violation of any copyright laws, although there may be
something said about ethics. But, since he is not deriving anything
from posting these recipes and is only doing so for the benefit of
others, there is nothing unethical about it. Especially since he is
not depriving the authors of any income in doing so (these recipes are
free for anyone to read and use-the sites do not charge you to have
access to them.)
Angel