RE: 3D Printing

I think the interesting question here is whether there will be legal
restrictions on what can and cannot be part of a contract, and whether it
will be different for a 3-D design and for digital media. Probably. Will
send the lawyers into quite a tizzy, I bet :-) 

Poorvi

-----Original Message-----
From: Vincent Buller [mailto:Vincent.Buller@backstream.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 8:52 AM
To: John Erickson; www-drm@w3.org
Subject: RE: 3D Printing


This is IMO not different from buying a building plan for a house or ship
from an architect or designer, and building the object yourself. You buy the
design and the right to implement it (most likely for one
instance) - no-one would argue your home would belong to the architect. This
analogy with the 3D printing as John scetched below goes as far as that an
architect might impose contractual limitations to the changes you may make
to his design.

Vince

-----Original Message-----
From: John Erickson [mailto:john_erickson@hplb.hpl.hp.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 4:23 PM
To: www-drm@w3.org
Subject: Re: 3D Printing


Rigo wrote:
> This is really interesting. It show's that the right does not follow
> the materialization. In fact, copyright just works normally here, as 
> there is a monopoly to produce instances. Once produced, the tangible 
> instances are sold and property of the new owner, that has the right 
> to re-sell the instance, destroy it or whatever...

JSE: Pretty interesting new application of DRM technology, if you think
about it --- applying it to the controlled rendering of a 3D model. For
example, only those who are authorized (for example, have paid) to
physically render the model can do so.

Once rendered, of course, the usual rules over physical things apply. Note,
however, that this does not necessarily mean that the "owner" of the
property won't or can't claim rights, even ownership in the rendered
property. I could imagine that the rendering could be done under contractual
terms that claim a restriction on the renderee's right to sale, for example.
Used within an organization, I would see claims of trade secret over the
rendered property --- the authorized holder of the rendered property, being
under obligation to their corporation, would be legally restricted in what
they could do with the property.

So 3D rendering would not necessarily be the free-for-all that you might
imagine.

John

PS: I've just finished reading Lawrence Lessig's latest, "The Future of
Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World." So I'm not suggesting
that the rules I desribe above are desireable, simply possible and likely;
market leaders will always apply pressure to protect their monopolistic
positions, and this includes lobbying for new forms of intellectual property
and other market protections...

| John S. Erickson, Ph.D.
| Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
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Received on Thursday, 11 April 2002 15:04:56 UTC