Creating your own Crochet patterns and copyright questions

[earthwhisper]

I took a strawberry pattern from BHG and added more stitches to it and changed the entire look of it. Can I call it my own? Can I post the pattern on my blog site? Do I need to research if other strawberry patterns out there exist so that it doesn't look like I am copying someone else's pattern? How do I copyright a pattern?

[esekeith]

i would love to help you but I am clueless. I never thought about copyrights until I started reading different threads here. I worry that some blooper I've done in the past will come back to haunt me.
Deb