are we bothering with GPL,CC etc licenses? To: thingiverse@googlegroups.com I came across the following and thought a precis may be handy. It implies much of what is on the 'verse is not copyrightable (apart from the artistic stuff), just useful articles. It would even be questionable whether scad programs are copyright. So are the licensing aspects bogus? I started out thinking so, but read on... http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting *"In a practical sense, copyrights and patents are mutually exclusive. If you have a useful article you cannot protect it with a copyright. Conversely, you will not be issued a patent on an artistic work.[9]<http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting#_ftn9>That means that if something is eligible for patent protection b even if it does not have patent protection b it cannot be protected by copyright. This dichotomy is part of the reason why most of the physical world is not protected by any type of intellectual property. Most physical objects serve some utilitarian function, which means that they are not eligible for

copyright protection."*

*"As 3D printing and modeling grow in popularity, it is likely that we will see more companies and individuals assuming they have a copyright for a design or object and demanding removal of unauthorized versions. While most modern songs, movies, and pictures are protected by copyright, the same cannot be said for physical objects. For that reason, when a site receives a takedown request it may be wise to at least consider if the object is protected by copyright in the first place."* "*For 3D printing, this digital form is often that of an .stl file.<http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting#_ftn43>These files can be thought of as the object equivalent of a .pdf file b they are more or less universally printable by 3D printers and allow objects to be transferred digitally around the world.<http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting#_ftn44>But are they protected by copyright? And if they are protected by copyright, what does that mean? * * .Stl files are certainly protect able by copyright. Copyright law specifically mentions "maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, and technical drawings, including architectural plans" as included within the scope of works eligible for protection.<http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting#_ftn45> However, that does not automatically mean that every design file for a physical object is actually protected by copyright. * * * * After all, if a given diagram is the only practical way to virtually represent a physical object, a copyright on that diagram would prevent anyone from making any virtual versions of the object.<http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting#_ftn46>This would give the holder of that copyright a great deal of control over the distribution and manufacture of the object itself. * * In order to avoid this outcome, copyright law limits the copyrightability of these types of works" "Furthermore, even if the design file is protected by copyright, creating a physical version will not infringe on any copyright that exists in the file. No copyright on the design of a useful object extends copyright protection to the object itself." ..."**Furthermore, there is some indication that copying a file of a useful object protected by copyright for the purposes of creating the useful object is not copyright infringement." * *"One way to avoid some of these thorny copyright questions is by distributing objects and designs with permissive licenses such as those provided by Creative Commons.Unfortunately this solution can break down when applied to physical objects beyond the scope of copyright. To put it simply, you cannot license what you do not have."* *"All of that being said, licensing of noncopyrightable files can serve at least two useful purposes b one legal and one cultural.* * * *"The legal purpose is something of a hedge against future legal change. As detailed in this paper, there are many open questions surrounding just what types (and parts) of objects are and are not protectable by copyright. Granting a license today means that the usage conditions of the object are clear no matter how copyright law evolves in the future. As long as the creator does not believe that merely granting the license gives them the right to control non-copyrightable parts of the work, there is little downside to futureproofing the status of the object.* * * *The second, cultural, purpose is probably the more important one. Licensing can be an important signaling device even when it is not legally enforceable. Attaching a Creative Commons license is a signal that the creator wants to include her work in an ever-expanding and evolving network of creativity. It gives the rest of the community confidence that they can build on the object."* * * <http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting#_ftn55> -- -- Go visit thingiverse at http://thingiverse.com and stay tuned to the blog at http://blog.thingiverse.com. 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