UPDATE: After I submitted a report through the platform, I received a response from the website where my stolen model was being sold. They confirmed that they had removed the product from sale.
This is exactly the kind of thing that seriously harms the 3D printing community.
Creators spend hours designing models, testing them, printing prototypes, fixing problems and preparing files for the community. We publish our work on platforms like MakerWorld so other people can enjoy it.
And then someone simply takes the model, uploads it to a Chinese marketplace and sells it without the creator’s permission.
Here is my original model on MakerWorld:
And here is the same model being sold on Temu:
I did not authorize this seller to use, redistribute or commercially sell my model.
This is not “inspiration”.
This is not “similar design”. It is my model being commercially exploited without my permission.
If creators continue to have their work copied and sold like this, why should we keep spending our time creating and sharing original models with the community?
Bambu Lab and other 3D-printing platforms should take this problem seriously and provide creators with better tools to report stolen models and protect their work.
If you are a 3D creator, check the marketplaces from time to time. You may be surprised where your models end up.
I’m not quite sure what you would expect Bambu or Printables or Thingiverse or any other 3d platform to do. You can report stolen models as much as you want but most of the time the company/person that has stolen them will not care and these 3d platforms have no power over them.
Maybe cause I’m a grumpy old man but, I personally would only put models into a 3d platform that I don’t mind getting stolen.
I wouldn’t say that; one time, Bambu sent me a link to a site where my model had been stolen and asked if I wanted them to handle the issue or do it myself. I asked them to resolve it, and the model was removed from that site.
The biggest issue is the internet. So whatever you upload onto it somebody will try eventually to abuse it.
Your only solution if you see it contact the site support, report it and hope for the best. If your stuff is on etsy already its on 10 different selling sites also…
My only suggestion is but thats more of a “taste” from the designer try to get into modelling something that isnt easy replicatable or unique. I as an example deleted all of my decoration and minis models cuz i dont wanna deal with stuff like that or copyright. Thats why im only making fantasy armor and weapons cuz everyone needs to size them up for themselves and you cant sell it on etsy/temu etc because everyone has a different body.
I agree, but sometimes you just want people to download and print your models. As for those who want to sell them and make money—I don’t mind at all, provided they message me and ask for permission. I’ve already told plenty of people that yes, they can sell them without any issues or payments to me.
I believe you get more help if your model is posted in the MakerWorld Exclusive category and maybe there are other categories now where they throw in assistance as a perk. But those are voluntary on Bambu’s part and used as an enticement to go “exclusive”.
But for plain old regular category models, it’s not their problem or obligation to do anything. It’s your copyright and license and rights and obligations fall to you. If there’s a lawsuit, it’s your lawsuit, etc.
There are costs to even writing and sending takedown notices. First thing they have to do is make sure a person truly has rights to a model before they go after others for infringing. Anyway, it’s got costs associated. Might be a business opportunity - charge creators for legal defense when/if they get ripped off.
First I would send the seller a nice message like this.
Hello,
I am the designer and rights holder of the ■■■ design being offered in your listing. {link} original design file is distributed under a license that does not permit commercial manufacture or sale of either the digital file or physical products derived from it without authorization from the rights holder. I am contacting you directly before pursuing any further action because I would prefer to resolve this matter amicably. If you are manufacturing or selling products derived from my design file, I respectfully request that you remove the listing and discontinue sales of the product. If you obtained the design from a source that represented it as available for commercial use, please let me know so I can better understand the situation. My goal is simply to protect my work and avoid unnecessary disputes. I would appreciate your response within the next few days. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
90% of the time the seller will apologize, offer an excuse and remove the listing. After that if that don’t remove the listing, find the Temu ip infringement report page. However, if you file a DMCA takedown, the seller can file a counter notice which means unless you have a lawsuit within 10 days, they can start selling it again. Though in those cases for me, the sellers never relisted the product. I think they rather walk away as they have plenty other stolen models to sell.
Maker World Copyright support is pretty weak, and you are better off working on it yourself.
I don’t upload anything that I plan to sell myself. I learned my lesson.
I have designed a series of 35mm and 120 roll film cameras and I will be damned if I will post the files anywhere. I have 6-8 months of testing and design work into the project and while I might consider selling a completed camera I sure as heck will not post the files.
With something like this, it really makes more sense to focus on selling the feeling - nostalgia, retro vibes, that sense of stepping back in time. Even if you manage to sell the items themselves, it usually isn’t worth the effort on its own. If people are interested, it’s far more likely to be as part of a package - an experience. But that also means you’d need to promote it on YouTube or social media in general.
It always comes down to weighing the pros and cons. If you want to sell it as a physical product, you’ll need attractive packaging, you’ll have to handle shipping, and you’ll end up dealing with a surprisingly complicated tax system depending on the country.
Most people I’ve seen who sell things like this don’t actually sell “the product” - they sell the story behind it, the experience. Presented the way it is now, as a finished standalone item, it will probably be quite difficult to sell, simply because the market is already so crowded. The market is literally flooded with cameras that nobody wants anymore, sold at extremely low prices.
One possible alternative might be crowdfunding. Only once you’ve raised the amount you set for yourself will the file be released - either to everyone at once, or only to backers. Take a look around MakerWorld to see how others have done it:
Actually the project got started when an art teacher at a local high school came to pick up a bunch of stained glass stuff I was donating. She saw the darkroom and the 4x5 plastic camera I made and commented that they had a “lab” with several 3D printers and some other “maker” machines.
She did photography when she was in college and over lunch we conjured up the idea of a 35mm camera the students could print and use I designed and tested it and am willing to expose (pun intended) the design to the free world.
My plans are to provide darkroom services to develop the film (if needed) and sell them bulk loaded cassettes of film for cost.
Do with it whatever you want, but releasing this kind of simple stuff under an open license would mean others could help you improve your design.
And what exactly is your gift? A picture of some plastic boxes that almost look like cameras? I don’t intend to build a camera myself, but if I would I’d probably go for something like the open designs below. If I searched longer I’d probably find even more.
Open licenses remove whatever control there was over the design, though. It means people will just repost it with changes to walls, infill, or whatever - especially if it is any kind of popular.
The only way to release it where others can help him 'improve the design" would be to release the original drawings.
Nope. Too many ignore licenses entirely. They piggyback print profiles. They sell prints wholesale. Etc. Very few actually help improve designs.
The outright theft by so many is why I rarely post anything “open”. It’s on those who steal designs. If there wasn’t theft we could live in the open utopia. But there is.
The dirty aspect of posting designs is finding those that abuse the system. Lets say you are in the USA and someone steels your design in Russia prints and sells in Russia. It is very hard to detect. It is hard enough to detect in the same country.
Once detected, you can often get some takedown’s to happen. But sometime they wait a little while and repost, sometimes change a few things and repost.
Things like you posted, no support, no complications,… thing things that make it work well for the public to print, make it good for them to steal. If it is a popular model, it is even better to steal.
