A dear sweet young blogger "invented" a brand new and exciting quilt block last year. Bless her heart, it was a 9-patch. Her innovation, so far as I could see, was that she didn't press at all.
Unfortunately, someone who is very uninformed can, and may well believe that they have created something original -- and then get all bent out of shape if people "copy" or "plagiarize".
I'm a strong supporter of artist's and writer's rights -- but I won't be forced to buy a book for a class if I want to check it out of the library or refer to it as an e-book online. And I think it's ridiculous to try to *own* a concept.
RST