Last summer I submitted a request that the Copyright Office renew an existing rule that allows users to break DRM that prevents them from using materials of their choice in 3D printers. As of October 28th, that rule has been renewed for another three years.
This is good news! Copyright law should not allow 3D printing manufacturers to force users to only use approved materials. Wins in copyright policy world are rare, so let’s celebrate one when it comes.
This request was part of a larger every-three-year process involving dozens of requests to allow people to do things that are not prohibited by regular copyright law, but are prohibited by a special provision of copyright law that prohibits breaking digital locks (even for otherwise legal purposes!).
This time around, that larger process was a bit of a mixed bag. The good news is that many of the existing exemptions were renewed. The less good news is that some of the new exceptions were approved on highly restricted terms, making them much less useful.
What happens now? 3D print with whatever material you want, free of fear of a copyright lawsuit (at least over using unapproved material in your printer - what you print can still get you into trouble). Three years from now, we’ll do this dance yet again.