Prusa Fights for the Open Source Cause, Releases CORE One Files

Patents, copyrights, and licenses are legally complex concepts. So many of us in the maker community just want to share our designs, but end up being taking advantage of by predatory and unethical agents. Josef Průša and Prusa Research have long been advocates for the open source cause, but they’ve seen existing licenses fail the community many times. To fix the situation, they developed the new Open Community License (OCL) and is showing faith in that by releasing their CORE One and CORE One L files under it.

In Průša’s blog post about this release, he tells the troubling story of Soozafone, a popular creator releasing designs on Printables. Soozafone published his models under a Creative Commons license, which is a typical choice for makers.

But that license failed Soozafone. A foreign entity managed to file a US Design Patent for Soozafone’s creations, which they then used to file takedown notices and demand licensing fees for those sharing the models. They even went so far as to threaten Soozafone for sharing their own models.

It is genuinely infuriating and the worst part is that it isn’t uncommon.

Průša doesn't name the patent troll, but I will. USD1055176S1 names Fei Qin as the inventor and lists Shenzhen Lifan Technology Co Ltd as the current assignee. Yes, that is the scooter company.

Průša is quick to point out that the OCL wouldn’t have stopped this from happening. The problem is that the US Patent Office clerk who investigated the patent application failed to perform adequate due diligence and didn’t discover the existing Creative Commons License.

So, what is the point? The OCL should provide better protection for creators in the legal battles that follow these predatory breaches. It explicitly states terms in language that can’t be misinterpreted and ensures that anyone downloading models is aware of those terms.

To that end, the OCL terms suit most of those sharing models on Printables and in similar situations.

The OCL lets you:

• Download, inspect, and learn from the full STEP + Fusion assemblies
• Modify them and share your mods (under the same OCL)
• Use modified or unmodified designs in your own workshop, print farm, or production line
• Produce spare parts to keep your machines running (home or business)

It does not allow you to:

• Sell complete machines or remixes based on these files, unless you have a separate agreement with the owner of the license

It should address issues with other popular open source license that were created with different conditions and applications in mind. And Průša hopes to build a coalition to support the OCL and those who publish designs under it. On top of that, Prusa Research is funding Soozafone’s legal battle against the patent trolls that have caused so much drama.

To cap it all off, Prusa Research is putting its money where its proverbial mouth is. The company released the CORE One and CORE One L enclosure CAD files under the OCL, demonstrating their faith in the new license.