Originally Posted by BellaBoo
To copy a pattern to give to someone and you keep the original is a violation of copyright. To make a quilt or pattern using a picture of a quilt as a guide for yourself is okay but don't claim/sell/distribute/ it as your pattern. Old quilt patterns that are in the public domain and not copyrighted and can be copied, printed, and sold as much as you like.
This is only partly true. It is a violation of copyright to reproduce an original design without obtaining permission. It is fine to reproduce a quilt that uses only designs within the public domain. When you buy a quilt book or pattern, you have the author's permission to make the item using that design.
It is almost never okay to make a copy of a pattern, even if the design is in the public domain. The instructions are still under copyright protection. (By a copy of a pattern, I mean a photocopy or some other copied representation of the instructions.)