The problem with Creative Commons licences is that they basically only apply to creative artwork. It is a sort of copyright protection. So it has to be *art*.
Copyright does not apply to technical stuff. Although a lot of people do attach a CC-licence to their technical designs. But this has very little legal value: it can only serve as an indication that your invention existed at that time. If I understood things well...
The only way to protect technical inventions, is by a patent. And if you don't protect your own invention, then a competitor can. Then the cost is on you to prove that that patent is malicious, and that you were earlier, which can be extremely difficult and costly.
So I do understand the need to protect your rights and inventions against abuse from malicious big competitors with a huge budget. But there is still the possibility that a future management might see things different than the current management. For example when the company would be taken over. Who would resist a multibillion dollar offer?
I am not sure, but I think it is possible to write into a patent that its use will be free forever for everyone. Or for non-commercial purposes only, or so. Then I guess that clause would have legal value? But I am no lawyer... Anyway, it is something you might want to have a look at?
This will always be a very difficult balance.
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ultiarjan 1,209
Well, ofc I know very little about patents, but I guess in general patents hugely block innovation. Defensive or not.
But I have a lot of trust in Ultimaker, so It may be a necessary evil in today's world, which does not make it a good thing.
Statements like this in the blog post do leave a lot of room for interpretation to say the least...
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flowalistik 181
As a designer whose 3D models have been stolen and sold for years, I understand Ultimaker. Even more considering the amount of effort and money they've put into their 3D printers.
Also, I saw it coming since the day I got my Ultimaker 3. The difference between the UM2 and UM3 is much bigger than it may look, at least for me. Yes, this is a superficial point of view, but I see a big difference in terms of design and product refinement between my first Prusa i3 (which is still working) compared to an UM3.
This said, I don't like patents, they're evil, they turn you into a Sith. I trust Ultimaker, and I hope that any step they take towards the dark side is just to avoid potential problems. Please Ultimaker, don't mess everything up. You've got enough examples of what NOT to do just in the 3D printing industry.
(Sorry for the Star Wars references)
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ultiarjan 1,209
the first example that comes to mind;
Anyone here who watched "print the legend" and did not think Avi Reichental was the asshole and Formlabs were the good guys? don't become the assholes.
closer to home; let's say BCN (or anyone) will get inspired by the Ultimaker Auto Leveling (I probably need to read the patent as I don't jet understand whats new about it..) and implements an improved version that's even much more betterer .... will you think he, let's make it bettererer ourself or will you be assholes... thats the big question for the future.
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