Even though 3D printing sounds like a very reasonable investment, there are some aspects of 3D printers that need to be examined. The first major aspect of 3D printers are the legal aspects. With the traditional printers, images obtained from the internet are usually printed without a problem as long as the images are properly cited to give credit to the owner of the image. However, it is different with 3D printing. Since 3D printing is a more advanced form of technology that creates original objects, using other photos is not permitted and leads to many legal problems. With 3D printing, “it is easier to make a copy of a patented product and therefore easier to infringe a patent” (Ebrahim, 2016, p. 46). It is hard to prohibit crime associated with 3D printing as it is very easy to download designs from the internet at any location which can be done without pay, affecting the 3D printing industry (Ebrahim, 2016, p. 46). A common legal issue that comes along with 3D printing is infringement, specifically creating a computer aided design which is a “virtual blueprint model that is used to produce 3D printed objects” (Ebrahim, 2016, p. 39). The computer aided designs are often times made for an item that has already been created before and are shared publically, so online users can get access to the files.
Another legal issue associated with 3D printing is intellectual property law. The intellectual property law protection consists of “copyright law, patent law, trademark, and trade dress law: Copyright law is a form of protection sought for original, creative works, patent law is used for useful works, trademark law protection is used to identify goods by each of the consumers in a marketplace, and the trade dress law refers to the type of product packaging and the object’s design” (Ebrahim, 2016, p. 42). The creation of objects mostly occurs easily in factories. However, it becomes difficult to try to recreate objects made in factories (Neely, 2015). As mentioned in the scholarly journal article, “companies are most likely to face a threat of unauthorized reproduction from other companies” (Neely, 2015).
Digital infringement is a specific form of infringement that is a legal issue associated with 3D printing. With digital infringement, “anyone who uses a 3D printer to print a patented object directly infringes when the object is made without authorization or without a license from the patent owner” (Ebrahim, 2016, p. 46). A consequence of the infringement is suing by the patent owner. However, a problem arises when the patent owner cannot identify who the direct infringer is due to the immense amount of their personal and business technology use being combined. Another legal issue associated with 3D printing is intellectual property law. It is noted that the intellectual property issues are related to “the ability to quickly create, reproduce, modify, copy, transfer, share, post, and download computer aided design files” (Ebrahim, 2016, p. 48).
There are also ethical issues attached to these advanced printers. Due to items being produced in homes by 3D printers, questions of safety arise. In a scholarly journal article called The Risks of Revolution: Ethical Dilemmas in 3D Printing from a US Perspective, the safety of the 3D printed objects is an ethical issue. The safety of products is dependent upon centralized manufacturing and are tested and certified as being safe. The products undergo safety checks on a regular basis (Neely, 2015). However, this is not necessarily the case with 3D printers as they are used in homes often. Each printer tends to be different; therefore, the quality of each printer is not the same. Since it is difficult to improve the safety of the physical object itself, the software of the 3D printer can be improved through the limitation of shared plans (Neely, 2015).