Yes, these things get conflated. The one valid concern though, are adjacent fields - one using licensed, IP protected seed, and the other using a heirloom varie

Yes, these things get conflated. The one valid concern though, are adjacent fields - one using licensed, IP protected seed, and the other using a heirloom variety. There have been cases of cross-pollination where the non-IP-purchasing heirloom user is accused of using seeds by evidence of the resulting cross-pollinated results. It isn't clear to me if this a just a fear or something that has happened (the lawsuits, certainly cross-pollination occurs).