Intellectual property infringement is a serious issue that prevails hugely in the 3D printing community. An eBay seller named “Just3D print” started selling 3D products of Thingiverse designers. “Just 3D print” had to finally withdraw the designs when their defense could not support the facts.
San Diego-based 3D printing company SD3D 3D printed a skateboard recently. They 3D printed and assembled the skateboard and featured it on the skateboard YouTube channel Braille Skateboarding. Kiana Duncan was the designer and almost all parts of the skateboard were 3D printed. The design was inspired by Simone Fontana’s Thingiverse penny-style skateboard.
Both Fontana’s design and the design from SD3D were simultaneously displayed on the YouTube channel. The design was sent from a YouTube channel called 3D Print Everything. As per Fontana’s claims, the person who sent the design to the channel did not credit him for the designing. Also, the wrong rod was inserted into the skateboard which led to its instant breaking.
The YouTube channel has given the credit of the skateboard to the designer from SD3D. It has also given the links and the set of instructions for building the board. Fontana has gone ahead and stated that the design of the skateboard in the video has been stolen from his design. He further said that the 3D printing company added a curve to the skateboard and took credit for his design.
The company, on the other hand, stated that the skateboard was developed from scratch using their own design. Only the three metal rods were inspired by Simone’s design. The designer Kiana Duncan had uniquely designed the skateboard giving it a curved and concave shape. This accusation has created a divide among the 3D printing company and other members of the printing fraternity.
Remco Katz, the co-founder of the 3D Printing Club, Facebook group asked the SD3D to issue an apology to Simone Fontana. Fontana does not want any compensation from the company. He just asks for an apology and proper credit for his work. He also said that it is due to these problems that many designers like him had to leave Patreon.
Source: 3dprint.com