Digital Models Not Subject To Copyright

MonsterMagnet writes "The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has affirmed (PDF) a ruling that a plain, unadorned wireframe model of a Toyota vehicle is not a creative expression protected under copyright law. The court analogized the wire-frame models to photographs: the owner of an object does not have a copyright in all images of the object, but a photographer may have a limited copyright over a particular image based on artistic choices such as costumery, lighting, posing, etc. Thus, the modelers could only copyright any 'incremental contribution' they made to Toyota's vehicles; in the case of plain models, there was nothing new to protect. This could be a two-edged sword — companies that produce goods may not be able to stop modelers from imaging those products, but modelers may not be able to prevent others from copying their work."

Comments

That sound you hear....

[symbolset]

Is millions of wireframe models being yanked from the Internet. Gentlemen... start your Blenders!

Actually, apparently the court ruled that the modellers didn't own the copyright because it's a representation of Toyota's design. I doubt if you got hold of this mesh and published it that you could avoid getting sued by Toyota.

Oh, and I wonder if it will grow the market for this clever device.

While we're on the subject... where's a great free library of blender-compatible models?

I hear some clever japanese gents are working on autogenerating wireframe models from multiple pictures like you find on Google street view as well.

Awwwww Junk

[introspekt.i]

There goes my rights to my collection of wire frame models of cages.

I thought that stuff was gonna be gold.

Re:Convert ALL data into wireframe models NOW!

[Tangent128]

Hmm... make a hi-res model of a record, then all you need is a virtual needle. Collision detection with what is basically a heightmap shouldn't be comparatively difficult, and with a decent physics engine, you can even scratch it!
Audiophiles rejoice!