Knitting and copyright law

There was a big todo regarding copyright law and knitted garments for the last few days. I think I will probably just avoid posting on contraversial subjects. I really think that copyrighting your pattern is to stop people from mass producing and selling garments made from your pattern. But think about it. How many variations can you make to that pattern to make it yours? If you like the basic bones of the pattern, you can keep those, but change other things. What about the trim, the way the sleeves drape, the collar, the size of the buttons, the length of the ribbing, etc. If you make multiple changes that are notable, then it is no longer the same pattern, is it. I guess if you dont know pattern conversions that would be difficult, but hey... learn something new! Thats my take anyways, but who am I? As I said, I am avoiding contraversial subjects :-D