as a printer do I need to avoid printing copyrighted material? if someone uploads a .stl file to my hub and pays me to print it have I violated the copyright or has the uploader? Here is an example of a .stl file that I know would be a violation of copyright law. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:697543/#files
If I am unaware that a file violates copyright am I still responsible for the printing.
can anyone give me a link to an article on this issue?
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Well there are many things to discuss about copyrighted items, and you asked interesting question, the one i didn’t even think about. But the one thing you specifically pointed out has no restrictions.
What you should do is read the CC licence and see what it says, and it says.
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The model in that link is a copyright infringement of a Warhammer 40K dreadnought even if thingiverse user MattKing allows me to distribute and share alike, Warhammer 40 K can still sue me the printer for accepting money and producing a design that is a blatant knock off of their product, correct?
how do I manage the liability involved in not knowing that somebody’s .stl file happened to be a copyrighted design I had never heard of?
IMO. Because we are in the gray area, wild wild west, on the ground floor, etc… you should do what you feel is appropriate. If you look at it as selling plastic and time to someone who is providing you the form, then the customer is responsible for determining the IP status of their selected form. You reserve the right to not print things based on your case by case judgement.
It is worth noting the Destiny video game item exports happening right now and the Serenity/Firefly “Jane’s Hat” knitted fan art debacle. IP owners are starting to look at uncontrolled distribution as bolstering there IP value rather than stealing money from their pockets.
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Thanks! a lot of the stuff on thingiverse is potentially in violation of copyrights and a lot of the things my friends request are violations of copy rights.
Hi Patrick,
Thank you for your reaching out to us about this, I understand your concern and I will do my best to explain how we, as 3D Hubs, approach the subject of copyrighted material.
3D Hubs is a peer to peer platform, we help customers to find a suitable hub for 3D printing their models. Due to the fact that we have hundreds of 3D models uploaded to 3D Hubs every day and seeing as there is no such thing as a database for copyrighted 3D models, there is no way for us to be able to check all the models that are uploaded to our platform.
The responsibility of knowing if it’s ok to print a 3D model is the responsibility of the customer who is uploading the model to the order. We strongly encourage our users to print their own creations but if you, as a customer, have obtained a 3D model through a third party source, it’s your responsibility to check the license attached to the model or check in with the original creator.
At the same time, we can’t expect our Hubs to run checks on every model that comes in and to know all the details of their local copyright laws. Every order that comes in through 3D Hubs goes through several stages, the first one being the review step. This is the moment where you, as a Hub, have the ability to decline an order. If you feel that the content that was uploaded should not be 3D printed, please decline the order and give us the reason why. If you have doubts about an order, please use the comment section on the order page to ask your customer about the use-rights of the 3D models.
I hope this makes sense and I want to encourage you to keep the dialogue about this topic open so we can discuss any further concerns you might have.
Best regards,
Robin - 3D Hubs
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seems like a rational argument. I’ll decline orders that I think are copyright infringement and stop worrying checking every copyright out there. Hopefully a court will agree that I am just selling plastic and skilled labor.
