3 Ways to Protect your 3D Printing Files from Theft and Plagiarism

Help protect your designs from theft! These methods are an easy way to add protection measures to work you distribute online into the 3D Printing Community.

REMEMBER: There is no sure fire way to protect your designs. If you don't want them stolen, don't make them available.

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[screwyluie]

Put the watermark inside the geometry. Unless you slice it and preview the layers or print it and watch the print you'll never know it's there. Protects the digital file because it'll be hard to find and remove and the physical object as well

[NoMoreBsPlease]

0:56 If I think someone is lying about designing a part, I ask for proof they designed it. I can go to ANY of my designs and post a screenshot of the full design tree or enough of it to make my point. I've seen so many people lie about designing the dumbest shit. I don't get the need for some people to have others think they designed a useless trinket. Baffling...

[bullangr]

Another thing that can help is to send your design to yourself by email as soon as you finished modeling it.

This way you can prove that you were the first with file in hands, before it was published.

[procactus]

So what you guys need is an encrypted file that comes with a HASH and can be decrypted by anyone but cannot changed or re-saved to match the original HASH. Therefore one can 100% guarantee the file origins.
Onestep further would be a central database storing the HASH numbers for published files.

[_jovian]

I think the best way is to hide watermarks within the mesh so that its only visible in cross sections of the model (or while printing). One blatantly obvious one, the a few more not so obvious ones so if a removal is attempted, they wouldnt think there are more.

[jpjokela]

Of course one of the actual "practical" effects of visible watermarking is, make whoever is copying the work wonder "Should I really be removing this?" It kind of voids any "I thought this was freely modifiable!" argument such people might have. From this perspective, having watermarks, that can be removed by accident, can be bad.

Another way to hide watermark is, make it on exact same level as the surface it is on. That way, it shouldn't show on any solid view modes at all (but visible on wireframe obviously, maybe less so, if the model is complex enough)

But obviously, some automatic edit functions (face cleanup) can remove it without anyone noticing.

[goranjosic]

As you said in the end, it is practically impossible to protect 3D files. The best plagiarism defense is publishing a file somewhere where it's possible to check the date. If you first published a 3D model, and if stolen geometry is the same, it's probably enough to prove to the court that file is yours.

[bornach]

Use a Trusted Timestap Service or Trusted Timestamp Authority to prove that your watermarked version of the file was the earliest version.

[robertdanielpickard]

How about a geometric steganography? You could encode discreet values, like ASCII, into lengths, angles, ratios, etc that spell out a message that indicates attribution.

[al-ohfq]

you can capture screen timelapse as video file when creating 3d model. and use that as a proof that you created it. no way thief will have it.

[sjbolton]

As Angus points out this is a very old problem and crops up with new popular digital formats as people look for ways to profit. JPEG images were once a problem for artists and photographers ' copyrights once scanners became more affordable. And there are ways and means of tagging any digital file at all but they are not 100% perfect. Whatever method you use its best to hide the fact you have a hidden watermark or whatever, it should only be revealed at time proof is required.

Above all anything you ever upload, do or say online you MUST expect someone will use it against you or your wishes at some point. So if you upload any type of file expect someone to take it and use it where and how they want. And never say anything online you would be unwilling to stand behind in court. You may think it doesnt matter or nobody will bother but it does happen. Not to everyone always but it does happen, many employers will "google" job applicants and even existing employees, just like random drug tests have become the norm in many businesses.The only way to ensure 100% safety for your data etc is NEVER put anything online (not even stored in a private cloud storage)

[nlahmi]

You can also blend your name in Morse code somewhere in the model where it's visible but no one will suspect it's your name

[peoplez]

It's ridiculous that people do this. I made a mod for my printer, and low and behold, I saw a guy on a forum for my printer taking credit for it and asking people how they like "his mod". I don't even see the purpose of accepting praise for other peoples work, the praise is not for anything they've done.

[getorvillized]

one possible way to hide a watermark would be to have a void somewhere in the middle of the model, and have the watermark etched into one of the ways of the void (think of a smaller open cube area inside of a large cube)... if the larger cube was the model.
It would be nice if companies like shapeways could have code that looks for watermarks in an uploaded model, and flag those models where it finds the watermark and refuse to print them.

[msca]

i wonder if you chop the file in half with a randomly generated key ( which is a keyed shape ), then you have 2 files, that can only be put back together with the key.

[shanebeasley]

another way would be to make a hollow inside the model with a logo but make it small enough it wont be printed, then you wouldn't even be able to see it even if you zoom like mad

[matthewhutchinson]

hey Angus I love the effort you put into these vids and at the age of 10 I got my first printer and you've inspired me to get into modelling. thank you.

(EDIT): I'm a fellow Aussie.

[alexale]

the example of "geneva" engine is exactly like music – the authorship can be only to engine in whole but not to shape of any parts, there will be no music from collection of random sounds - author must create harmony connection between them - so he will get copyright to the song but not for sound of music instrument, the copyrightable is only performance of song in unique way - this is very known in classical music where copyrights gone

[stratman]

Look I've posted designs I've made online. The act of doing that means I'm just throwing it out to the public. If it's something I don't want people to rip off, I wouldn't post it.

[syntaxerror]

The creator of "Tempest" watermarked the game code with a copyright embedded as binary, but in morse code. Bootleggers copied the game ROM watermark and all.