So I’ve recently noticed some individuals are selling my designs online without a commercial license. How do you handle this? Its not to the point where I’m ready to stop giving away designs but the thought has crept into my head. I also started a commercial license so those people who want to support me can.
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I offer a commercial license through Patreon. I’ve gone a few different paths, from messaging and saying hey, please license, to just reporting. Mixed results all around. Some people are nice, some people are mean. Reporting the listings doesn’t always do much. Generally though askingly nicely can get ya somewhere. Just going straight for the report button is instant bad blood. Like everyone I’ve reported hated me, but nearly everyone I messaged either took it down or took a license. A couple went mad, and I ended up reporting it.
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Thanks for sharing. It sounds like we had the same sort of method for taking care of it. I was just curious how everyone was dealing with it.
I went down a rabbit hole when looking at this stuff and found a bunch of sites I never knew existed for selling stuff. lol.
I’m not good/big enough to make a patreon for commercial licensing. But I’ve seen 3 of my models being sold online, nobody’s asked permission.
My approach at the moment is to allow free commercial license, because a strict license will only stop honest people, sadly. I also get an ego boost when I see someone buys my designs. My approach may change in the future tho.
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I definitely agree it only stops the honest people. But those people will also reach out to try an obtain a commercial license. You can always make a license and see if people sign up. I have mine through thangs.
We are right around the same size of downloads so I wouldn’t say you are too little to start one.
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I saw someone who apparently had a problem with a select individual selling the creators product and the creator had done a couple of things to combat the problem.
They reported the person who was stealing and there seemed to be a mixed response. Some of the sites banned the stealer while others did not.
The other thing was they had a sort of cautionary disclaimer that the posted model was structurally deficient in some way and the creator would sell you the missing part. With various infills and things like that it was incomplete. They made no bones about the print, as is, will fail. Struck me as how when you buy boxed retail software you need the key-code to validate that it isn’t a bootleg.
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Please could you share websites where you found your model sold from? I’m curious to see if I’m there too…
I would like to see an example as well. It makes since but I’m wondering exactly how its implemented.
So the ones I’ve seen are Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, Whatnot, Tiktok, and Walmart.
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It sounds like possibly they turn a part into a component that needs to get loaded as part of the print kind of like if you are designing multicolor prints. If I accidentally miss a component when loading a multicolor part there’s a hole left wherever it fit but things don’t need to be a different color.
But if that’s what they are doing it’s not perfect. When I set colors of two parts that border each other to the same color, the slicer keeps the borders between the parts for the most part. So you get walls, etc, that still reveal the seam even though the colors may be the same. Not the same as if the parts are different colors, but it still leaves a seam.
No idea if it’s what they are actually referring to though.
One place I never thought to look was TikTok shop. There was a person that keeps harassing me about successfully selling my prints of my model on TikTok and saying that they are not going to pay for my subscription. You know this is going to happen with any free 3D model you put on the internet, but my biggest issues was that they keep posting terrible comments on my model with no auto-moderation from MW. Luckily the MW team is pretty fast to take them down once I report it.
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I think I can find the link but some of it, since I’m not selling (or printing right now) you may interpret things differently than I did. I’ll reply when/if I find the print.
I don’t have any other examples. I have seen several printed Saturn V and it popped into my head that with the new Bambu I could print something along those lines. Did a search on Apollo and the commentary caught my eye. Random coincidence that I had just seen that post/model several hours before I saw your post.
But here it is.
I’ll probably go through the 5 stages:
Denial: Me? With my small fry models?
Anger: How dare they profit off my models!
Bargaining: Ask them not to do this.
Depression: When they ignore my request.
Acceptance: That I’m too poor to take any substantive actions.
It’s an excellent idea to place such a notice directly at the beginning of the model description. This creates clarity and protects both the copyright of the modeler and the user from legal issues.
Here are some suggestions for such a notice that you can integrate directly into the model description:
E.g.: Important notice: Commercial use of this 3D model, including the sale of physical prints or the digital file, is prohibited. This also applies to commissioning 3D printing services for a fee.
Additional notes for Makerworld: Clear and unambiguous communication: Makerworld should already point out the terms of use to users during the download process and ask them to acknowledge them.
Custom Licensing System: Makerworld should provide its own licensing system for designers, allowing them to grant commercial use rights for their models and allowing them give users the right to give an order to a 3d printing service. The designer can charge the downloader a fee for this license, which benefits the designer, while Makerworld receives a commission for distributing it on the platform.
Why is this so important?
Legal certainty: Clear licensing terms protect the modeler from unauthorized use and potential legal disputes. Trust: Users know under what conditions they are allowed to use a model and can rely on the fact that they will not get into legal trouble. Fairness: Models created by others should not be used commercially without the creator’s consent.
Conclusion: Clear and understandable licensing is of great importance in the field of 3D printing. By implementing the measures mentioned, Makerworld can help create a fair and transparent environment for all involved.
Best regards!
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I’m tracking someone who is selling prints of my model on Etsy. They have made 25+ sales at $40 a pop. Not sure how much profit there is for them but that’s at least some data. Definitely not worth legal action though. Also this person pays for a commercial license.
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Same happening to me, the only way is to report them if they dont’ pay for your work.
They sell in Facebook Marketplace too.
Good call I haven’t checked there yet
This was pointed out to me on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1786490215/telescopic-custom-lightsaber-3d-printed
He just reversed the decoration to the other side of the handle (easily done if you choose to assemble it that way).
I sent a message, but I will try to contact Etsy if there is not a response.
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