All 3D designers enjoy open source and the 3D community, but what if someone is violating your CC and Copyright laws? A recent debate has pop up regarding a certain company giving the middle finger to CC and (C) laws and ripping designers off.
The article makes an analogy of file being a blueprint and being inseparable from the physical object. I agree with the blueprint but the inseparable is different. I definitely agree that credit is due. But if I buy a blueprint for a house I can build and sell as many houses that I want without giving credit to the person who drew the blueprint; unless it was stated otherwise in the licensing at purchase/transfer. I could also make changes on the fly, should I need an extra window. I haven’t looked at the licensing but it sounds like the license explains what can and can not be done with the file. If it isn’t stated in the license that the printed object has a restrictive copyright or trade dress in cooperation with the file then I don’t see much legal positioning on the part of the file maker other than the piracy of the pictures and credit. Sure, the file is copy written but they aren’t selling, duplicating, or distributing the file but the physical print… It correlates with the difference in pricing between an art print and the original. The file is the original and the print is a copy and falls under different terms. Just sounds like the different terms for the print haven’t been defined in the licensing by the artist, yet. (Not that I’m a lawyer)
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2016/02/24/your-rights-when-you-upload-to-thingiverse
Makerbot’s response seems like a step in the right direction