- The thing is though... is this 'Super 8' energy cube a CG object or a real object? There's a bit of a difference of classification between the two.
For copyright it doesn't matter. The CG and touchable versions of the 'Super 8 energy cube' are derivative works. The CG and touchable versions used in the movie are probably derivative as well as I suspect the original design was a drawing from the design artist.
Anyway, creation of derivative work is exclusive to the copyright owner (and whoever gets permission to do so) and that is most likely the movie company.
- Putting a model 'not for sale' but public (on Shapeways) means that the model can only be bought by the designer/member and falls within 'fair use' (for personal use only),
Strictly speaking this would only be the case of there are no pictures. Pictures would be derivative work again. In practice the chances of copyright owner going after you may be smaller. But it's not foolproof. Fair use is not a set rule but more like a set of guidelines for a legal court. In case of conflict they are the only authority that can decide on this. Here is the extract from the US copyright law (notice the use of the words "In determining"):
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§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
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This was taken from
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/ You can find the whole US copyright law there if you want to see it.
So making use "fair use" is more along the lines of "this is likely to be seen as fair use so I feel safe enough using it". As is the case with me quoting the text above.
Note, you may notice that "personal use" is not specifically listed with the purposes. But the situation is a tad more favorable for the person claiming fair use if you look at the four factors.
I hope this makes it clearer what I meant to say in my previous message.
By the way, I'm not a copyright expert. I just know a little more about it since I'm a moderator of a sculpting group and I had to study it so I could explain it to the members. There are a lot of misunderstandings on the subject. Law experts: feel free to add and correct. And if you have time, I think a thread explaining about the function and working of copyright law would be useful on this site.
Bye,
Ming-Hua (who really needs to go to sleep now - cya)