Disney's Anti-3D-Scanning Patent / Is scanning/copying theft?

[NeuroCindy]

I'll just leave this here. It's interesting:

 

[disneysteve]

That's interesting, Cindy. I can certainly see both sides, though. Decades ago, there wasn't the sort of empire built around intellectual property that there is today. When Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818, there weren't action figures and TV shows and movie rights and theme park appearances and fast food tie-ins to worry about. If the author made money from sales of the book, that was great, and then they died.

Would companies like Disney and Universal be willing to spend millions developing things like Star Wars land and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter if they would only retain the rights to those IPs for a limited time? By the time Star Wars land opens, the franchise will be over 40 years old. If the old law was 56 years, they wouldn't have all that long left to profit from those original characters before every schlocky gift shop on 192 started selling knock off merchandise at a fraction of the price and any amusement park in the world could start opening Star Wars themed attractions and compete with Disney.

Of course, as the video points out, so much of what we associate with Disney didn't originate with Disney. From their early works, like Snow White, to recent hits like Frozen, the source material came from the public domain, stories written many, many years ago. If the estate of Hans Christian Andersen still owned the rights to The Snow Queen, we might never have gotten Anna and Elsa, Olaf and Sven.

I'm honestly not quite sure how I feel about that.

As for making exact replicas of existing products using a scanner and 3D printer, however, I definitely see a problem with that.

 

[ConeyLighthouse]

Yep, because a legit business knows doing so is illegal and isn't willing to risk their business and reputation just to make a buck.


YouTube is pretty aggressive in this area. If you post a video that includes copyrighted music, there is a high probability it will get taken down. My daughter has run into that a couple of times. I've also seen DISers who posted videos of the parades or fireworks at Disney and had the videos taken down for copyright violations.

This is actually crazy - sometimes the artist that actually created the original song (as in, famous musicians) get their videos removed/blocked and they have to actually fight Google/YouTube to say "Hey, I OWN the copyright!"

 

[ConeyLighthouse]

I love the new episode of the Dis Unplugged where they talk about parts of the monorail falling off and someone says "Well, guess what? Disney has a 3D printer!"

 

[ConeyLighthouse]

That's interesting, Cindy. I can certainly see both sides, though. Decades ago, there wasn't the sort of empire built around intellectual property that there is today. When Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818, there weren't action figures and TV shows and movie rights and theme park appearances and fast food tie-ins to worry about. If the author made money from sales of the book, that was great, and then they died.

Would companies like Disney and Universal be willing to spend millions developing things like Star Wars land and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter if they would only retain the rights to those IPs for a limited time? By the time Star Wars land opens, the franchise will be over 40 years old. If the old law was 56 years, they wouldn't have all that long left to profit from those original characters before every schlocky gift shop on 192 started selling knock off merchandise at a fraction of the price and any amusement park in the world could start opening Star Wars themed attractions and compete with Disney.

Of course, as the video points out, so much of what we associate with Disney didn't originate with Disney. From their early works, like Snow White, to recent hits like Frozen, the source material came from the public domain, stories written many, many years ago. If the estate of Hans Christian Andersen still owned the rights to The Snow Queen, we might never have gotten Anna and Elsa, Olaf and Sven.

I'm honestly not quite sure how I feel about that.

As for making exact replicas of existing products using a scanner and 3D printer, however, I definitely see a problem with that.

How do you feel about this big push that companies are making now where you don't actually own your own purchase? For example, with music and books you are just downloading them and they have the right to revoke / delete them from your device at any time. Also, with automobiles, because they are claiming that the computer inside the car is proprietary, that you are not allowed (in the terms of sale) to fix/modify your own vehicle.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

On point...

 

[disneysteve]

How do you feel about this big push that companies are making now where you don't actually own your own purchase? For example, with music and books you are just downloading them and they have the right to revoke / delete them from your device at any time. Also, with automobiles, because they are claiming that the computer inside the car is proprietary, that you are not allowed (in the terms of sale) to fix/modify your own vehicle.

If something is being sold, as opposed to rented, then it belongs to me. If I buy a song, a company shouldn't have the right to take it back unless they are going to refund my purchase price. That is no different than if I purchased a CD or record or cassette. Once it's mine, it's mine. That doesn't give me broadcast or distribution rights, of course, but I own it for the purposes of personal use. I never buy electronic downloads or e-books so this doesn't affect me personally but that would be my stance.

As for the cars, I'm not familiar with what you're talking about. I'm not a car guy. Are you saying there are car companies requiring owners to take the car to an authorized dealer for all service? I haven't heard of that but it sounds pretty ridiculous.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

[QUOTE="disneysteve, post: 57777506, member: 42533"

As for the cars, I'm not familiar with what you're talking about. I'm not a car guy. Are you saying there are car companies requiring owners to take the car to an authorized dealer for all service? I haven't heard of that but it sounds pretty ridiculous.[/QUOTE]

Not a car person at ALL either (I don't even drive!), but yeah - according to a lot of friends, this has been going on for years, and has been getting more and more prevalent. They tell me if they don't take the car back to the dealer for service, it invalidates the warranty. I thought it sounded ridiculous too, the first couple of times I heard it. Then I heard it SO much, in my mind, it just became "standard".

I know as far back as the late 80's/early 90's this trend was starting with cars - had 2 friends whose Dad started/opened an auto parts store to leave to them, his 2 sons. I worked in various stores/businesses nearby, so would go hang out with them before/after my work day, and sometimes on breaks. They sold a LOT of Armor All, keys, and air fresheners, and the occasional oil or air filter, but always lamented that "jobbers" (as they referred to old school fix-it-your-selfers) were going out of style due to this computerized trend, and they would not be able to stay in business much longer. Turns out they were right - unfortunately - sadly, they were out of business by the mid 90's.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

YouTube is pretty aggressive in this area. If you post a video that includes copyrighted music, there is a high probability it will get taken down. My daughter has run into that a couple of times. I've also seen DISers who posted videos of the parades or fireworks at Disney and had the videos taken down for copyright violations.

They don't always take it down it depends on if you have motorization on your account. If you do they generally won't take it down just restrict you from making money off of it. Disney however isn't usually the one to do it unless you posted a movie on youtube. It's more just overzealous record companies that will tray to get anything they can.

 

[ConeyLighthouse]

If something is being sold, as opposed to rented, then it belongs to me. If I buy a song, a company shouldn't have the right to take it back unless they are going to refund my purchase price. That is no different than if I purchased a CD or record or cassette. Once it's mine, it's mine. That doesn't give me broadcast or distribution rights, of course, but I own it for the purposes of personal use. I never buy electronic downloads or e-books so this doesn't affect me personally but that would be my stance.

As for the cars, I'm not familiar with what you're talking about. I'm not a car guy. Are you saying there are car companies requiring owners to take the car to an authorized dealer for all service? I haven't heard of that but it sounds pretty ridiculous.

With the cars, it's pretty interesting - some states in the U.S. are actually introducing legislation called the Right To Repair where they legally mandate allowing people to be able to repair their own cars (or other things). And of course the big companies are fighting it because they want to control, and make extra money off of, repairs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Vehicle_Owners'_Right_to_Repair_Act