In example of the system working can be found in Square Enix's dealings with Joaquin Baldwin. CNET reported:.
But all good things must come to end because of copyright laws (as the saying goes). On Wednesday, the developer of FFVII -- Japan-based games publisher Square Enix (known simply as Square at the time of the game's 1998 release) -- caught on and sent a takedown notice to Shapeways. Shapeways in turn immediately scrubbed the products from Baldwin's profile and Baldwin began offering refunds to buyers whose orders were still in the 3D-printer queue.
The key distinction of what will be protected and what will not under copyright law is pretty plainly stated. The principle idea is sever-ability. Weinberg explains: If an object has both artistic and useful features, the copyright does not extend to protect the entire thing. Instead, copyright protection is limited to the artistic features that can stand alone – assuming there are copyrightable features that can stand alone. Essentially what this means is that a chair or paperweight is not a novel idea that can be protected. However, a design or added use can be protected under copyright law. As Mr. Weinberg tells us, this does not always work. He recounts an instance in a designer manufactured a product via 3D printer that was considered unique; the design was not shared with the public. A user on a public internet forum (much like Shapeways) produced a copy and uploaded the design for others to use and tweak. This is where the real damage is done with intellectual property theft. It removes the novelty of the originators idea. Justin Pearce and Steven Schwartz write about a more observable technical problem: "The long lead times and capital expenditures associated with conventional manufacturing of consumer goods can be virtually eliminated with 3D printing." If the physical product is owned, they explain, a 3D scanner can make a computer model that can be replicated.
