Wednesday, November 21, 2018
U.S. Copyright Office amends act in favor of open 3D printer materials
3D Printing Industry: The U.S. Copyright Office has made an amendment to an existing act that prevented the use of non-manufacturer approved feedstocks in 3D printers.
Upon the advice of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the act has been amended due to its potential to inhibit much-needed material innovation.
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2 comments:
I did find this article extremely interesting, although I was a bit confused. Firstly, I think that it is marvelous that the DMCA allowed access to computer programs facilitating the repair of automobiles, as this promotes an open economy and competitive market. I also think that the Vernor v. Autodesk case is very important, as Copyright is very much about who has ownership over the use and reproduction of products. However, for Copyright to apply the product needs to be in a fixed form. This line becomes blurred in the digital age, as computers are physical objects but software is not, necessarily. In the above-mentioned court case, the ruling determined that while software users have the ability to download and use the software, they do not own it and therefore cannot legally re-sell it. In regards to 3D printing, however, the article goes on to say that this new "exemption now means that all users, whether 3D printing for personal use or market use, are free to use third party or homegrown feedstocks and access the relevant controls that would allow them to do so." What confuses me is that while I understand they have access to it, does this mean that individual users have ownership over the third-party feedstock? If their designs and products qualify for Copyright, does this mean that the manufacturers of that feedstock do not get any credit for their product that was used in the creation of another product? It seems like the laws have (necessarily) evolved since 1998, but I will be interested to see how flexible these Copyright rules turn out to be in this multi-user digital age.
The most important part of this article is I feel the phrase, “The exemption now means that all users, whether 3D printing for personal use or market use, are free to use third party or homegrown feedstocks and access the relevant controls that would allow them to do so.” This is awesome to me because now it means more people will be able to attempt to find more and more types of printable materials to be used 3D printers. This leads me to hope the we will start to see a possible break through in the realm of cheap materials to print that will help make 3D printing more affordable. The other hope of mine is the fact that this also means that we are more likely to see the advent of the usage of wood in 3D printers. All in all it seems I may be another step closer to the day of just 3D printing a set.
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