I know it’s a hot topic but there seems to be little done. I’ve reported many & most seem to remain.
Came across another today who are claiming some well known models.
https://makerworld.com/en/@slivovicka321
Can we name & get some visibility on such things?
Absolutely! Please report him, I just did it.
You can use this message:
Stealing models from other people:
Handheld Remote Launch Box by Nathanwalter0 - Thingiverse
CYBERPUNK 2077 KNIFE 1:1 by EMA_P - Thingiverse
etc…
Its deflating when @MakerWorld keeps letting thieves carry on even after reporting numerous obvious infractions? Should be zero tolerance, even if you appear to be popular with big numbers. Wastes so much time chasing “more evidence”, screenshots and links etc only to see the profile sitting pretty still with full points and uploading more.
I faced the same issue with other user on a different platform…
Was a few years ago but nothing has changed - in terms of rotten people stealing the work from us to pretend they created it…
Sadly quite often model even end as paid content…
I contacted Bambu and the Makerworld support several month ago in order to find out how things are handled here.
Let’s say I wasn’t impressed with the replies…
While I agree that can be hard to determine whether or not a model is stolen, the excuse that posting rules and guidelines ensure that won’t happen is a bad joke.
Same for stating ‘we rely on user feedback’…
We already have several ways of clicking on things to show our appreciation for the creator.
So adding a proper REPORT button is no problem at all.
With that in mind I replied to their Emails again and suggested just that…
Give us a report button with a few categories to choose from and act on the reports accordingly.
Works like a charm in all good forums so the implementation would be really easy as the sources for this are open source.
Of course this would only be the last line of defence…
It all start like in any good forum - through REPUTATION !
Means the posts and uploads of NEW users land in a moderation cue.
There the content is checked and if in doubt reference checks are made, like for checking if this model is not already listed elsewhere.
In case something ‘fishy’ is found the user can respond to it in kind - THERE IS people who don’t use the same username for all hosting sites they use…
After a few posts and uploads gone well and without complaints the reputation level is upgraded to allow the user to post and upload things directly.
A major safeguard any forum user is familiar with is account restrictions and banning a user.
Means such a thing has to be implemented as well.
Offend once and get a warning if the case was not too severe.
Offend again and you are no longer allowed to upload models or post things.
And if the user won’t learn not just the account is banned but the IP address as well.
I am now waiting about 8 weeks to get a reply to this LOL
But in all my encounters I learned one vital things: Bambu does not have the man power in the support areas required for the size of their pages and certainly not for their fast growing user base.
Rest assured we will see more automation and AI to tackle those issues but no working solution.
Why?
Because Bambu is not alone here.
I contacted quite a few hosting sites over the years with request to step in on this piracy…
They have no real interest and won’t invest the money to increase the size of their support teams.
And of course they refuse to work together on this.
Instead of joining the fight that affects the users on all platforms equally they prefer to go for volume only.
I made requests to all major 3D hosting sites in regards to implementing a hash codes for all uploaded files - that is included in the downloads and displayed with content on the page.
This would allow users and creators to at least quickly spot all those just stealing a model without making any modifications to it.
I gave up requesting this simple feature.
So you won’t be surprised to hear that my suggestion to use these has codes in a simple database users and hosters can access did not fruit at all.
“Hello user! I am the upload bot here and noticed the model you are about to publish is already available at XXXXX.
Before I can allow this model to be hosted here I require that you verify that you are the original creator or that you have the permission from the original creator to use the model in this way.”
A thing that MIGHT surprise you though is the reluctance of our hosters to at least enforce a PROPER ID verification.
You can create as many accounts and use as many fake names as you like, no restrictions…
Even if you want to upload model on site allowing paid content the ID checks are reduced to whatever payment options they offer.
If you don’t want money you won’t have any issues posing as Noddy the Furlong as the username and John Doe as the ‘real’ name in your account.
And use a disposable Email address like those from Mailinator and such sites is no problem either …
If you check the T’s & C’s for our hosters with paid content you find that they take a nice share from every payment a user makes to download these models.
Then go ahead and check their catalogue based on the number of download and start counting those for paid models LOL
Like it or not - EVERY user counts as every user creates revenue in one way or another…
Only pressure from the user community would be able to change things for the better…
But as you can see in this ‘forum’ - there is never any real human from the support team reading any of this…
60 uploads in the last 24 hours by this user, and I don’t know how many more have already been deleted by Makerworld.
This is one of the biggest problems here: bulk uploads. These push single uploads from respectable designers so quickly down that they are barely noticed. It is purely a matter of luck whether, after your own upload, dozens of uploads from another user follow, reducing the chance of your own being noticed to zero.
Other designers and I have suggested several times over the last few months to limit the number of daily uploads per user to 1, or at least just a few.
Instead, there was this huge reduction in rewards and actual downloads counted, which didn’t change this major problem in the slightest.
@Makerworld, from a designers perspective you have failed here!
I agree with uploading 1 model every 24 hours, because otherwise it becomes complete spam, including very poor quality models. Personally I spend a lot of time creating a model and generally no less than a day.I even see that the reported user even posted the Benchy boat!..no comment
This is a great idea and I hope it gets implemented.
just report them, MW usually reacts, sometimes they need a few reminders.
@MakerWorld @Tanklet, when are we getting immediate bans on repeat offenders? It’s no accident when these people blatantly copy/paste files and images right off honest Makers, sometimes they don’t even go off-site to steal other peoples work.
The report system has no credibility anymore, doesn’t go anywhere.
I really don’t know why @MakerWorld still allowed so many uploads per days from unknown users.
A real user with quality models wouldn’t upload more than 2/3 model per week, they should immediately mark a user that upload more than 1/2 model per day. You mark it, you check it and eventually block it.
it has worked on slivo… so we need a name & shame for stolen content.
I support a daily limit of 1 or a weekly limit of 7 uploads. A upload limit is needed now that photorealistic rendering has improved so much that MW has no way or resource to tell them apart from photos of actual prints.
Simply “marking” won’t be enough; dozens of designs could still be uploaded within a few hours. Makerlab employees usually don’t react that quickly - especially outside of their working hours.
And “7 uploads a week” inevitably means “7 uploads in one hour”. In my opinion that is already too much.
However, that gave me an idea:
@Makerworld could allow the bulk upload of a larger number of designs - however, only the first upload would be published immediately and the rest would be published automatically at a randomly determined time within the next days, but only the specified maximum permitted number per day (for example 1 or 2).
This would have several advantages:
1.) Makerworld can distribute its server load better if there are not excessive uploads at the most popular times.
2.) Not every designer has time to upload every day. He could then still initiate several uploads on a pleasant day.
For people that don’t upload every day, upload-credits could be earned: 1 per day with a maximum cap of 7. This would throttle the overall number of uploads and should not negatively impact creators, since for a reason or the other, it typically takes at least a day to make something.
please share the name and models…then we can bombard them with negative reviews
Unfortunately that’ll only get you sin-bin time, tempting as it is… It’s borderline here too, rules are changing.
The report function is weak but the only way we have to counter these thieves, I hope enough people keep hammering @MakerWorld wth them so they do something about it on their end.
Maybe we could all accept that the world is changing and with the rapid change there is no time / nedd for enforcing copyrights? I mean with AI evolving at a quick pace, everything you can think of will be at the palm of your hand in a few month/maybe years. Maybe it’s time to put an end to all those silly restrictions, and keep creating while it’s still relevant? Just my 2 cents.
Ps: i’m just providing an opinion, I don’t want to start a feud. I just don’t think copyright is that necessary in today’s paradigm, and even less so in 3d modeling. Let’s discuss it like gentlemen.
While there are only a certain number of ways to design a wheel, what I’m concerned about is someone taking stuff that isn’t theirs ie. file, text, and image typically uploading a mirror image of your work and claiming it as their own. There is no blurred lines in that case, theft.
IDK, I don’t see it this way. Copying and distributing digital assets, is not theft in my opinion. It multiplication. More people will use it if it’s more available. So everyone is benefitting except the creator. it’s not a big deal in my opinion.
And for selling printed version of other people models, I don’t get it either, it’s a service that the printer provides. In the real world, the machine is being used, the filament is being used. The file can be copied and distributed a thousand times without impacting the original model. I see it as renting time on a machine. I don’t think we need all that commercial licenses just to sell a print of a model. It feels like last century issue that is not relevant since the internet is part of everyday life. I wasn’t seeing the problem with napster, Kazaa or emule and it was more than 20 years ago. Lazy people pay, smart people free download, and entrepreunarial people sell to lazy people. And unlike 20 yeard ago there are literally thousand of way to get paid as a creator (patreon, kickstarter to launch products, rewards systems like on Makerworld). I dont get why people want the amazing exposure from the internet and not cope with the fact that they are gonna be copied.