'You wouldn't download a car': 3D printing and intellectual property

Prominent in discussions about the interaction of law and 3D printing has been the effect that 3D printing may have on IP, in terms of how and when new IPRs are created by the 3D printing process, and how and when the IP of others may be infringed. Given IP disputes, especially around file-sharing, have been one of the defining features of cyberlaw literature and jurisprudence, there is great anticipation about whether similar battles will be witnessed with 3D printing. However, while copyright was mainly at issue in the Internet context, 3D printing also implicates other areas of IP, notably patents, design rights, and trade marks, particularly given the fact that 3D objects are created by 3D printing. Indeed, the phrase ‘you wouldn’t download a car’ from a 2004 Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) campaign aimed at the illicit sharing of copyrighted items takes on new dimensions in the 3D printing context, especially since 3D printed cars have been developed—and it is already possible to download more mundane 3D printing files for car parts. This chapter explores this interaction between 3D printing and IP, both theoretically and practically, looking at how this relationship is playing out so far