I've been following all the copyright discussions with interest. There is one question that comes to mind which I don't think has been discussed. What about technique?
Take for example, bargello quilts, since I see that many of us are making quilts of this kind. I got into these things some ten years ago, and used a book by Marilyn Dohenny as my guide, though what I produced didn't look much like any of her examples. I just had to mess with it. *g*
Now there are tons of bargello books out there. So if any of us who are working with this form want to show or sell our quilts, is this a copyright violation? And of whom would we ask permission? Every bargello book author out there?
Or what about watercolor quilts? Remember those? How many people wrote books on how to make those?
I'm sure there are many other methods which do not involve actual patterns to which this question would apply. What say the rest of you?