As you pop the rental DVD into the media player, you are met with a piracy warning all too familiar.
You wouldn’t steal a car…you wouldn’t steal a handbag…you wouldn’t steal a television…you wouldn’t steal a movie… source: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/legality-of-watching-films-that-are-streamed
Through the recent boom in consumer friendly desktop printers, can we say the same for other more tangible products such as figurines, pieces of art, jewellery, mechanical components and other accessories are being produced by anyone with a beginners understanding of 3D modelling software?
As a matter of fact, accounts manager Brian Worley (full story here) is not the first to take matters into his own hands when he printed a component of the offices broken dishwasher, for a fraction of the original $45 price tag for the right parts ($1.60 to be exact). While this is a minor case, infractions such as these may become difficult to control with our current copyright laws. How can we assure security of content which cannot be stopped by a simple watermark?
The emergence of derivative works, or so called ‘fan-art’ is on the other hand almost encouraged among artists, as it allows fans to show their appreciation of the creators work. In this case, the ‘Creative Commons Licence’ has proven itself effective in protecting the original artist, whilst allowing for a relatively risk free collaboration between other creators. Could this be applied to 3D printed models as well?
In any case, the growing concern regarding intentional and unintentional copyright violations are becoming seemingly more valid. Maybe it’s time for us to change the question?
You wouldn’t download a car, would you…?
LINKS
You wouldn’t steal a car? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmZm8vNHBSU
3D printing confronts the everyday world: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/3d-printing-confronts-the-everyday-world-20140703-zsdad.html
3D Industrial Revolution 