I, also, kept hearing mention of copyright laws, but could not make heads or tails, of the legalese. I was thrilled when I received the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of McCall's Quilting magazine the other day in the mail. Those kind folks have distilled the law into easily understandable English, with regard to patterns, for those of us who need to know. I would encourage all of you to read it for your own 'piece' of mind. Good work all of you!