An analysis of UK copyright and design laws on 3D printing and product design.

Abstract

The thesis aims to investigate the implications of 3D printing for UK copyright and design rights, with an emphasis on the creation, access and use of computer-aided design (CAD) files by consumers for product design. The thesis has two major objectives. The first is to identify and present the context of 3D printing for legal analysis, and the second is to investigate the implications of 3D printing for UK copyright and design laws, especially relating to consumers. To this end, the thesis employs the ‘law in context’ methodology, with the aim of building a contextual framework for the legal analysis of 3D printing. Following the contextual analysis of technological, corporate and societal aspects of 3D printing, it presents the most relevant five scenarios of consumer use of 3D printing, capturing various design activities that are occurring or likely to occur in the 3D printing environment. The thesis demonstrates that consumers’ increased product design prosumption (consumption plus production), as depicted in the scenarios, will pose legal challenges. It is found that there are uncertainties over the protection of and ownership of CAD files, whilst infringement and enforcement issues arise in relation to online platforms facilitating the unauthorised reproduction and dissemination of CAD files. To address the issues, the thesis asserts that there is a need for the review of UK copyright and design laws to seek further clarity on regulation of consumers’ design activities in the 3D printing environment. It is also vital to improve clarity over the regulation of 3D printing online platforms, for which further research is recommended on the enforcement landscape in the 3D printing environment.