3D Printing, dawn of a new era in intellectual property.

It's been 15 years since the Napster's peer-to-peer music sharing software rocked the music industry (no pun intended). The war waged, Napster was defeated, and the music industry suffered a huge blow by losing almost half of it's revenues. After the dust settled Napster was no more and iTunes became the leader in legal media downloads. But, brace yourselves patent and copyright holders, a new era is upon us, the era of 3D printing and a new era of file sharing infringement issues.

3D printing is an old technology which emerged in the 1980s (that's ancient in tech years!). As opposed to CNC machining which takes a large object and whittles it down to the desired design, 3D printers creates an object by building outwards, layers upon layers. The design for the object is created digitally through a program such as CAD and sent off to the printer to print the object in a plastic resin. 3D printers have been used to create aerospace and medical parts and products, candy, even copies of fossils. A simple Google search will reveal the millions of things a 3D printer can produce. (This is why I love IP law, I am exposed to some really amazing and cutting edge innovations.)

Of course with it's vast capabilities of copying and printing basically anything, comes copyright and patent issues associated with 3D printers. 

This technology has been around for quite some time but recently there has been an explosion of interest in 3D printing in the IP field of law. The main reason 3D printing has been a focus of IP law is because printers are now cheap and easily accessible to the average person. One can easily purchase a 3D printer for around $1,000 and have it up and running on their tabletop in their home. As a creative artsy person I would love to have one and use it to let out some of my creative energy, the possibilities are really endless. But, as with anything there are those that use it for good and those that use it for bad, and those that think they are using it for good but are really infringing on somebody's patent or copyright (think- your 12 year old self flagrantly downloading thousands of free songs on Napster, committing federal offenses left and right) 

3D objects are copyrightable the same way music, pictures, and sculpture are. With a 3D printer you can easily scan any object and have the printer print it in 3D.... you all can see where this is heading right? The at-home 3D printer user can easily make an exact replica of a Mickey Mouse action figure or a 3D Olaf, acts that clearly infringe on Disney's copyrights. Patents are infringed in the same way.  Also reminiscent of Napster is the widespread sharing of these files that instruct the printer to create these infringing works. DACA (The Digital Millennium Copyright Act) allows copyright holders to send takedown notices to the sites hosting the infringing files. Most of the time the sites have been cooperating and taking down the infringing 3D printing files.  

All in all the 3D printer is a great technology that is used to create many useful and awesome things.  And I will leave you with a little tip for when you are using a 3D printer: don't print anything that is copyrighted or patented, without consulting with your trusted IP law attorney. 

Why should you care about IP Law?

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning and as you head out to work you find your car sitting on cinderblocks? For most people, this is not a good feeling. This is the same way "the creators" feel when somebody is using (and making profits on) their intellectual property that of which they poured their blood, sweat, tears, and bags of money into. It can also get infringers sued or thrown in jail.

Infringement is not a victimless crime. I know what many people think, these artists and record companies have millions and billions of dollars, a few bootlegs aren't going to hurt them. This is both illegal and bad precedent. First off billion dollar companies such as Samsung and Apple duke it out over infringement disputes, it is not only the local bootleg guy. Second of all, emerging artists and companies are severely injured when their work is infringed. Lastly, the guy selling bootlegs on the corner isn't as insignificant as he may seem.

These individual bootleg distributors are not working alone, they are simply cogs in large world-wide organized crime rings. Sadly the fake designer bags and bootleg DVDs you see are just some of the wares these criminals are peddling, sex slavery and human trafficking are the other industries that are connected to the counterfeiting market.

Supporting counterfeiters and infringers also take away from US jobs and the economy, especially since the counterfeit business has been estimated to rake in $600 billion annually.

There is a very good reason the fight against infringement and counterfeiting is a good fight, and should be continued.

If you are a creator no matter how big or small you should also take the time to think about your intellectual property rights and how to secure them. I understand the startups or emerging artists have a lot on their plate, creating their works, marketing, booking shows, websites, social media, the list goes on and on. One thing that should not be left off the list is to see what intellectual property rights you have, how to protect them, and in the future how to sell them or license them.

Welcome to I Heart IP Law

This is my first blog posting! With this blog I want to to share with everyone the various happenings in IP law.

What is IP Law?
"IP" stands for intellectual property. Here in the United States and in many other countries we have the right of ownership to the products of our mind. I think that is pretty awesome you can own the rights to your creations, and sell them if you wish! As with many things legal it's much more complex than that, and IP law is constantly evolving every day.

IP law is one of the foundations this country stands on. It's in the Constitution, known as the Copyright Clause which empowers the United States Congress: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." Thanks to our Founding Fathers, this country has been able to lead the world in sciences and the arts, in large part because their creators are able to protect their interests through intellectual property law.

Who benefits from IP Law?
There are three main parts to intellectual property law and they are copyrights, trademarks, and patents. I will go into each into more detail in the future, and there are a lot of details! Another great thing about IP law, the future is exciting! Who knows what tomorrow my bring? A new lifesaving drug? A heartfelt video that makes you tear? A song you will dance to at your wedding? A TV that reads your mind so you don't have to keep looking for the remote?

There is not one area of our daily lives that intellectual property law does not touch. Somebody's intellectual efforts was required to create everything around you at some point in time. I have always appreciated the creators and innovators: the artists, the musicians, the scientists, the writers, the inventors, the designers.

As you can see intellectual property law is infinitely vast, and pretty damn interesting and awesome that's why I [HEART] IP LAW.