Originally Posted by Margaret
My copyright "outrage" has to do with antique redwork & other embroidery designs. If someone obtains an old embroidered piece, I don't believe that gives him/her the right to copy the design, copyright it as theirs, and sell it for $15.00. In my opinion that is stealing. Antique patterns are in the public domain and should remain so. Original work is entirely another matter. If I buy a pattern, I would share it with a friend, but wouldn't copy and pass it around to a large number of people.
Are you sure that the person who is selling the pattern is claiming the design as her own? Copyright does not give her that privilege. More likely, she is claiming a copyright on the *pattern*, meaning the drawings/instructions/etc.