I can't draw. That is to say that if I try to draw a face or a person or an animal, I can't get the proportions to look right. It is something I simply never learned. And as I can't draw in 2D, I can't sculpt in 3D either. I can use simple character editors like Hero Forge or Desktop Hero 3D, but I'm no good with software like Blender. Which means that predominantly I am using 3D models that have been sculpted by other people. Mostly Miguel Zavala, who pretty much sculpted every D&D monster from 5th edition (see here, here, and here), and made them freely available to the world. Thank you, Miguel! So because he allows us to use his files, there is no copyright problem in my production of D&D miniatures.

Now I met another DM from my role-playing club, and he asked me whether I could print him some figurines for his Star Wars campaign. As I was just testing my new printer, it was a good opportunity to try some stuff, so I produced an X-Wing, a TIE fighter, and a bunch of stormtroopers. I found the models for free on places like Thingiverse. However when I was finished I had some doubts about the legality of what I just did. We are all aware that there is a huge difference between the ability of getting a file for free on the internet, and that content actually being free of copyright.

I don't know where these Star Wars files on Thingiverse are coming from. Some had somewhat smudged surface features, which looked as if somebody had 3D-scanned a model released by some toy company and turned it into an .stl file. Others were probably using software like Blender, but clearly following images from the Star Wars universe, which are presumably copyrighted. Disney is unlikely to come after me if I print a few toy stormtroopers. But there are companies that make their money by producing figurines for games, e.g. Games Workshop or Reaper Miniatures. What if somebody scanned their miniatures and made those files public, or started to selling slightly lower quality miniatures for a fraction of the cost? A $2.99 Reaper miniature could be reproduced for less than 10% of that cost on a typical home 3D printer. After painting you'd barely see the difference. After knock-off Prada handbags, we could have knock-off tabletop miniatures. On the other hand the companies making miniatures could actually make money from producing the .stl files themselves and selling you the file for personal use instead of the miniature, if they weren't too afraid of the files getting copied.

I am not a lawyer. The kind of information I found on the internet suggests that copyright hasn't caught up with 3D printing technology yet. And just like with music and film piracy, the law will first deal with people trying to make money from copyright infringement, before they turn against the average use who pirated something for personal use. However as 3D printers become cheaper and more common, it is only a matter of time until the shit hits the fan and we will have lawyers all over the 3D model sites.