The Copyright Issues Of 3D Printing

The Economist once published an article declaring that 3D printing would boost the third industrial revolution.The development of technology will always be accompanied by the rise of new intellectual property issues and simultaneously promote the perfection and development of the existing rules.Therefore,it is necessary for us to start the research into the IP issues involved in 3D printing.This article is from the standpoint of copyright area and focuses on the right to copy which is closely connected with 3D printing and explores the issue of copyright infringement brought by 3D printing.The first chapter of this article analyses the technological background and business operation model of 3D printing,and crystalizes 3D printing into two phases i.e.model establishment(3 dimensions to 2 dimensions)and printing(2 dimensions to 3 dimensions),and includes three objects,i.e.prototype product,3D model and printed end product.Meanwhile,this chapter sets out several issues that merit research including the copyright status of the printing object,issue of copyright infringement possibly involved in different printing processes and copyright infringement liabilities incurred by 3D printing service provider in different business models etc.The second chapter starts from the “Penrose triangle” as the entry point and conducts analysis on the copyright status of 3D model and 3-dimensional object involved in the 3D printing process and advocate that 3D models which are independently created or processed by nonautomatic scanner can satisfy the innovativeness as required by copyright law and shall be categorized as the parameter of protection afforded to product design drawings,however,should 3-dimensional object is able to gain protection under copyright law,the separate protection regarding artistry and functionality shall be noticed.The third chapter of this article through breaking apart printing process,discussed the direct infringement issue in terms of right to copy in the respective printing process and method and opines that under normal circumstance,the model establishment process of 3D printing(“copy” from 3 dimension to 2 dimension)will constitute copy within the meaning of copyright law whereas the printing process of model(“copy” from 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions)will not constitute infringement;additionally,no matter whether the printer of the end product is bona fide or not,its infringement liability to the original model designer or original product rights holder cannot be excluded.(“copy” from 3 dimensions to 3 dimensions)The fourth chapter of this article,through comparing different commercial service provider of 3D printing to the status of defendants of Sony and Grokster case,analyzes the indirect infringement liability of “intermediate participants”-printing equipment provider,model sharing service provider and model transaction and printing service provider and opines the three will not constitute infringement under current technological standards.In chapter 5,this article proposed suggestions to the service providers in respect of the fact that 3D printing will possibly involve infringement,including creation of technological plan and establishment of permit system.It also offers further thinking regarding the reasonable utilization system of copyright law in anticipation of the development of the current legalization as to catch up with the development of the technology.