"John Emmons" wrote in message
...
If it were true, which it is not. Copyrights exceed the life of the author
by I believe 50 years now. Certainly more than 10.
Having said that, photocopying the plans and using them for yourself would
probably fall under the "fair use" portion, especially if the plans
themselves were published in the magazine.

Right you are, John. From the US Copyright Office:
"A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or
after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its
creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life plus
an additional 70 years after the author's death. In the case of "a joint
work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire," the term
lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made
for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's
identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright
will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is
shorter."
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hlc
-- Ernie