Everyone has an opinion about stealing IP and using others’ IP to make designs… All the arguing online and ugliness. But really, it doesn’t matter what anyone THINKS about the law. Opinion is irrelevant. What matters is if you want to deal with a court case if someone comes after you for stealing IP, and if you can successfully argue your case in court to prove you did not break the law.
If someone does not agree with the law, they should focus their efforts on coming up with some other better solution and trying to change the law. There is no point in arguing about it. That’s like arguing that it’s ok to drive with a blood alcohol point over a specific amount. You can argue about it all day, but it doesn’t change the fact that if you get charged with it, you’ll have to deal with a court case.
I’m just frustrated. People create designs (even here) that violate IP and share them or submit them to the catalog. I understand if they did not realize, and I have no problem with that. If I made something and then realized it violated IP, I would do everything in my power to rectify the situation.
And the contract that Glowforge uses for the catalog items puts all the onus on the designer. If anyone comes after Glowforge, they will point to the contract and all responsibility falls to the one who submitted it.
YEP! and I understand that. It would be so much work to investigate every design to make sure it didn’t violate IP. So the people doing this are really putting themselves at risk. And if you try to warn someone, they often attack you.
Also the reverse if you want to spend the money to argue the case in court with the Chinese company offering “free” designs that is your original stuff. “Don’t be evil” is the watchword. The facts of the law is very much dependent on who is bringing the suit, and who is defending it, as it is vague in detail, and can be argued reasonably on both sides in all but the most blatant cases, and even some of those. I wish that were not the case but observed reality beats wishes.
As you note it is more about money and power than the facts of the case, again unless it is blatant.
EXACTLY!
I mean people have lost their homes, their livelihoods, etc because of lawsuits over IP. When I try to warn someone, I try to do it nicely and respectfully, and I’m trying to help them. But they don’t see it that way. I don’t get it. I mean, I understand why they do that, because they don’t want it to be illegal. But it’s messed up.
The Supreme Court case will be so interesting to watch play out.
I had not been aware if this action before, but I am betting they will make the situation worse as they have done in so many ways before. I am so glad I am old enough that I will not live to see how bad it will get.
Even with my own designs, I’ve asked - well how different does a second version need to be (for my own version vs my catalog submission that’s “exclusive” to GF) Sigh…
That is the base of the problem. Most maps contain places that do not exist so if the map is copied they can prove it was copied. I post a photo of a brick wall and you use a brick wall in your work did you copy it? Does the person who actually built the brick wall have a claim? I constantly have that issue with those LED lamps. I am certainly not the first person to make one, and if I make it exclusive, does that mean I cannot sell a box with that pattern engraved on it? It is all too vague to answer any of those questions except by who has to power to make the point.
But then people use this excuse and take it to the extreme - copying things that are blantantly obvious as IP. That’s what really gets me. In the end, people do get sued for these things. They get their Etsy shops or Facebook groups closed down, and all of that stuff… The logical response would be oh, yeah I don’t want to lose my home over selling a Disney design on Etsy. Unfortunately not everyone is very logical with their thinking. lol
That is the nature of power vs law, and a part of a very much bigger issue with the entire civilization that we sit at the cusp. Many of the problems have been there all along like leaks in a ship. If they are not too numerous or big you can use minor effort to control them, but if they grow in size or number the situation changes.
Everytime I hear someone say that everyone is equal under the law they are expressing hope that flies in the face of the reality that already that is not true but maybe some tiny step will not make it even less true.
Sigh…