diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/arguments/StandardVariantContextInputArgumentCollection.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/arguments/StandardVariantContextInputArgumentCollection.java
index 847120414..654770fe7 100644
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/arguments/StandardVariantContextInputArgumentCollection.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/arguments/StandardVariantContextInputArgumentCollection.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2010 The Broad Institute
+ * Copyright (c) 2011, The Broad Institute
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
  * obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
@@ -12,15 +12,14 @@
  *
  * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
  * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
  * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
  * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
  * OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
  * NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
  * HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
  * WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
- * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR
- * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
+ * OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
 package org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.arguments;
@@ -39,9 +38,9 @@ import org.simpleframework.xml.Root;
 public class StandardVariantContextInputArgumentCollection {
 
     /**
-     * The VCF file we are using.
-     *
-     * Variants from this file are used by this tool as input.
+     * Variants from this VCF file are used by this tool as input.
+     * The file must at least contain the standard VCF header lines, but
+     * can be empty (i.e., no variants are contained in the file).
      */
     @Input(fullName="variant", shortName = "V", doc="Input VCF file", required=true)
     public RodBinding<VariantContext> variants;