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Dagne, Teshager --- "Subsistence of copyright over CAD files in 3D printing: the Canadian, the U.S. and European outlook" [2018] ELECD 876; in Bonadio, Enrico; Lucchi, Nicola (eds), "Non-Conventional Copyright" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 355

Book Title: Non-Conventional Copyright

Editor(s): Bonadio, Enrico; Lucchi, Nicola

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786434067

Section: Chapter 16

Section Title: Subsistence of copyright over CAD files in 3D printing: the Canadian, the U.S. and European outlook

Author(s): Dagne, Teshager

Number of pages: 12

Abstract/Description:

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a manufacturing method in which materials, such as plastic or metal, are deposited on to one another in thin layers to produce a three-dimensional object. The process of 3D printing involves the preparation of a computer-assisted design (CAD) file, which may be derived from pictures or drawings, scanned from goods using a 3D scanner, or downloaded from websites. Such a file can easily be distributed, copied, modified, and then ‘printed’ by a printer device. As a core element of the 3D printing phenomenon, a number of questions arise over the CAD file, including the subsistence of copyright over CAD files to be used in 3D printing, i.e. whether copyright exists and applies to the work. This chapter discusses the subsistence of copyright over CAD in 3D printing files under Canadian, United States and European Union copyright laws.