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What Will Ubiquitous 3D Printing Do To IP Laws?

Posted by Soulskill on from the that-vase-is-cute,-snap-a-pic-to-we-can-print-it-later dept.

Lucas123 writes "With scanners able turn objects into printable files and peer-to-peer file sharing sites able to distribute product schematics, 3D printing could make intellectual property laws impossible or impractical to enforce. At the Inside 3D Printing Conference in San Jose this week, industry experts compared the rise of 3D printing to digital music and Napster. Private equity consultant Peer Munck noted that once users start sharing CAD files with product designs, manufacturers may be forced to find legal and legislative avenues to prevent infringement. But, he also pointed out that it's nearly impossible to keep consumers from printing whatever they want in the privacy of their homes. IP attorney John Hornick said, 'Everything will change when you can make anything. Future sales may be of designs and not products.'"

12 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Impractical? by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "3D printing could make intellectual property laws impossible or impractical to enforce."

    That won't stop the old boys from trying, like they are doing it with music and movies.

    1. Re:Impractical? by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "You wouldn't download a car!"

      "Fuck you! I would if I could!"

      Seriously though, something's got to give here and soon. If we ever hit the point where most products can be reproduced essentially for free there is going to be a massive and thorough push to lock down the internet in ways the RIAA and MIAA can only dream of. Remember, those media companies are bit players in the grand scheme of things. The amount of money going into the IP protection lobby will sky rocket the day you can download the plans for a BMW off pirate bay.

    2. Re:Impractical? by davidannis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If we ever hit the point where most products can be reproduced essentially for free

      No worries, the more complex the product the more complex the printer will need to be and the less efficient doing it on a small scale will be. We could all produce many things at home now but we don't. In part, it is more efficient to produce things in mass quantities. Then there is the up front cost. In part it is the complexity of producing certain components. There is a reason IC plants are so expensive; you can't print a chip without a lot complex machinery, a specific environment, etc. So, even if somebody comes up with a printer that can print a laptop it will have a large up front cost, require maintenance, and not be cheaper than paying a company that specializes in making laptops for many decades to come.

    3. Re:Impractical? by smpoole7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > the more complex the product the more complex the printer will need to be and the less efficient doing it on a small scale will be

      There's some truth to that. I don't think you're going to have many individuals building a BMW (or even a Nissan Sentra) at home. A few hobbyists, maybe, not on a large scale.

      But what is GOING to happen ... count on it ... is that small, local "custom shops" are going to spring up. What if I could get a cross between a Sentra and a BMW? Or something that looks like a Ferrari, but with the safety and fuel mileage of a small Audi? Now the IP laws are actually *overlapping* between identified brands.

      What if I can go into a custom tailor's shop and have a suit made while I go have lunch? Just the way I want it, at a reasonable price, and without waiting for days.

      THIS is the future. We live in exciting times.

      --
      Cogito, igitur comedam pizza.
    4. Re:Impractical? by alexander_686 · · Score: 4, Informative

      On a side note, BMW is increasing its use of 3d printers to print out parts due to complexity or ticks that can be done with 3d printers. In the 3d market manufactures is one of the fastest growing categories.

      http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21584447-digital-manufacturing-there-lot-hype-around-3d-printing-it-fast

    5. Re:Impractical? by mspohr · · Score: 4, Interesting

      My car has little plastic thingies which spray water on the headlights. Due to snow and ice, they are broken. Replacement parts at the dealer cost $110 each (for a part which can't contain more than $1 worth of plastic).
      I'd love to download and print replacements.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    6. Re: Impractical? by Spiridios · · Score: 4, Funny

      patton trolls be all over this and I'll be stuck down fast

      "The more I see of Arabs the less I think of them. By having studied them a good deal I have found out the trouble. They are the mixture of all the bad races on earth, and they get worse from west to east, because the eastern ones have had more crosses." - Patton trolling.

    7. Re:Impractical? by NatasRevol · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, the whole point is that everyone becomes a manufacturer.

      The problem with this is that it will never be 'free' or close to free. Printing has never been cheap. And that was just ink and paper.

      Why does everyone think that printing in plastic/metal at a usable structural level isn't going to be orders of magnitude more expensive that buying something wholesale, for at least a generation? Like how it took almost 20 years for laser printers to become common at home.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    8. Re:Impractical? by cdrudge · · Score: 4, Informative

      Saying that BMW is printing out parts is stretching what they are actually doing. They are printing out tools, jigs, and fixtures that are used in the assembly process. If they used a block of wood to spread the force out of a jack during assembly, you wouldn't say that the manufacturer was making wooden parts.

      BMWâ(TM)s assembly-line workers design and print custom tools to make it easier to hold and position parts. 3D-printed plastic moulds and dies are also being printed to help set up and trial new production lines. Some of these printed parts are even used as temporary stand-ins for broken steel tools, which can take weeks to replace.

  2. Gonna get me a 3D printer and by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Print me a Lawyerbot! (c:

    Sue me, baby, I can make a million of them!

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. Design Industry Association of America by Simon+Brooke · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Designs, like MP3s, are digital data which is by nature infinitely reproducible. You can only build an industry on selling designs if you introduce legally sanctioned mechanisms of artificial scarcity. Which means a bunch of lawyers will get together calling themselves the Design Industry Association of America. They will argue for a tax on raw plastic, to be paid to them; and will sue anyone they think might have a 3D printer stashed away in the attic. Of course they won't actually have any connection with real designers any more than the Recording Industry Association of America has any connection with real musicians, but that doesn't matter because as everyone knows it's the lawyers who get to keep all the money. They are, after all, the only people (apart from bankers) who actually add value in this economy.

    Cynical? Moi?

    --
    I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
  4. Re:what exactly can you print on these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    you can print real cotton clothes that are completely washable on a 3d printer? where do you get the raw cotton for it to form into clothing?

    You asked "can you".

    Asked and answered. Your supply chain problems are a different issue.

    You must be a consultant.