Moral obligations are one thing. Legal obligations are a different matter. The legal aspects of "pirating" are simple: if a plant clone, variety, seed strain, etc., is not protected by a plant patent, once sold to anyone it is in the public domain. An individual breeder might contract with a particular grower or seller to collect royalties on a new variety, but unless the plant is protected by a plant patent, anyone else could buy (legally) a bulb from the seller and propagate from it freely without being bound by the other grower's contract with the breeder. The Dutch have what they call "Breeders Rights" which -- unless actually plant patents -- are probably a matter of Dutch business agreements. I'd be curious about their legal status. John Grimshaw worked in The Netherlands in the plant trade for a couple years; John, what can you tell us about Dutch "Breeders Rights?" Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer; I did work in the pharmaceutical industry for 28 years however, and there I dealt extensively with patent attorneys regarding patents and other aspects of intellectual property. I'm inventor or co-inventor on about a dozen or so patents. Jim Shields in central Indiana (USA) ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA