Originally Posted by garysgal

ok, I am not trying to start another 20 plus pages of rage against the copy-right laws, but I just got a frustrating email from McCalls Quilting magazine.
I read the first article on the copy-right laws and then read the second issue's article which didn't say much.
My reason for emailing McCalls was that someone one the board wanted a pattern from a back issue. I had the issue and wanted to send her a copy of the pattern, so I emailed McCalls and asked if this was ok. They replied that it was an infringement of the copy-right law. So then I emailed again and asked if I could loan her my issue so she could use it (and pointed out that she could maybe go to the library and check out the issue and get a copy of the pattern that way.) I got a reply from McCalls saying:
"This is such a complex issue regarding copyrights and not all answers are cut and dried, but yes, I do believe you can loan her your issue and she can make a project. Thanks so much for asking! "

So now my question: I could mail her the magazine and she could use it and mail it back, but why can't I just send her a copy of the pattern? I don't consider myself stupid, but maybe I am missing something here. Is it the actual copying and sending that is illegal, or the fact that she didn't buy the pattern rights? Yet I can loan the magazine. Something doesn't seem to be right with this.