JJs wrote:
"I just checked the copyright information in the EQ7 book and I think I'll be using EQ exclusively for designing my own quilts."
I feel the same. Magazines and websites exist for the advertising, so you'll see rehashes of patterns if you keep referring to them, and using patterns you found or bought just carries too many risks. As for the instructions, EQ7 gives you the cutting details and even piecing templates, so at what point are you using other peoples' work?
At the end of the day, if I have a record of what I designed, I think it's really hard for anyone else to claim I "stole" it.
My question is: What is the simplest way to find out what blocks/patterns are considered to be in the Public Domain?
I did come across something else that might need its own thread: a fabric that had "Sold for non-commercial home use only" stamped in the selvage. I put it in the gift-quilt fabric pile, cos if I made something and sold it, Murphy's law says it would end up in front of the fabric designer for sure!
(My great-great-grandmother was a Murphy, wonder if that's why it always happens to me?)
Thanks to all for a very interesting discussion.