The Economist Europe – July 22-28, 2017

52 Business The EconomistJuly 22nd 2017

1

G

ROOT, a character from Disney’s film

“Guardians of the Galaxy”, is usually

mass-produced by the entertainment com-

pany as a small, collectable figurine and

sold by retailers such as Toys “R” Us. But

just before the release of the second film in

the franchise earlier this year, Byambasu-

ren Erdenejargal, a Mongolian enthusiast,

noticed that people in a 3D-printing group

on Facebook were searching for a comput-

er model of Groot. So Mr Erdenejargal de-

cided to create one. He spent four days per-

fecting the design and its printability

before uploading his creation to Thingi-

verse, an online 3D-printing community

based in New York. His digital model of the

arboreal creature has since been down-

loaded (and probably printed in physical

form) over 75,000 times.

Fans of popularTVprogrammes and

films have long used arts and crafts to ex-

press their attachment to fictional charac-

ters. Etsy, an online marketplace for artisa-

nal products, is full of Harry

Potter-inspired golden-snitch charms. But

a combination of 3Dmodelling, scanning

and cheap 3Dprinters allows fans to repro-

duce items like never before.

At Thingiverse, one of many such sites,

people downloaded 6.6m ready-to-3D-

print designs in the 30 days to July 11th.

Globally, over 424,000 desktop 3Dprinters

costing under $5,000 were purchased in

2016, according to Wohlers, an American

consultancy. As the 3D-printing communi-

ty grows, companies that own well-

known brands, such as media firms, are

having to pay closer attention.

Some firms are taking a hard line

against people copying their products. One

option is to send intellectual-property

“takedown” notices requiring people to re-

move their digital models from the inter-

net. HBO, a subscription-TVfirm owned by

Time Warner, recently sent such a notice to

a Thingiverse user who had 3D-printed an

Iron Throne iPhone holder, in homage to

its series “Game of Thrones”.

Disneythinks it hasa way to foil com-

puter scanners, which can generate a digi-

tal model of an item, by adding reflective

material to its plastic products. But like

some other firms, it is also experimenting

with the technology itself. In 2016 it started

selling its own 3D-printed versions of its

Star Wars characters through Shapeways,

an American online 3D-printing service,

which allows goods to be printed on de-

mand when ordered by people without

their own 3Dprinters.

Other companies are using 3D-printing

providers to create merchandise for them,

too. Universal Studios, owned by Com-

cast, a media conglomerate, is working

with Sculpteo, a French 3D-printing ser-

vice. Clément Moreau, Sculpteo’s chief ex-

ecutive, worked with the studio to create a

customisable 3D-printed version of the De-

Lorean time-travel car for the 30th anniver-

sary of its 1985 film “Back to the Future”. Al-

though Sculpteo is responsible for printing

the cars, being able to customise its design

gives fans greater control.

Skoda, a Czech carmaker owned by

Volkswagen, is also working with Sculpteo

to offer itscustomerssmall, personalised

models of their own vehicles. Indeed, al-

though only a fifth of Sculpteo’s total or-

ders come from individuals wanting 3D-

printing services, about half of the items it

makes end up in the hands of consumers.

That shows companies are using 3Dprint-

ing as a manufacturing process and not just

as a way to make prototypes.

Some brands are interacting more di-

rectly with modellers. A firm called MyMi-

niFactory, which is based in London,

works on behalf of brands to source high-

quality 3Ddigital models from individuals

for corporate websites. Thisavoids valu-

able IPbeing displayed next to crummy

models that may well fall apart when

printed. Agustin Flowalistik, a Spanish 3D

modeller, has collaborated with Capcom,

a Japanese video-game firm, through My-

MiniFactory. One of his most notable fan

creations, however, is a series of nine geo-

metric models of Pokémon created for last

year’s 20th anniversary of the franchise,

which is co-owned by Nintendo, another

Japanese firm. Uploaded to Thingiverse,

his models have now been downloaded

hundreds of thousands of times in total. 7

3D printing and brands

Model citizens

The spread of 3D printing creates

intellectual-property headaches

New modelling army

Sources: Thingiverse; Wohlers Associates

Active 3D-printing users on Thingiverse, m

Selected countries, 30 days to July 11th, 2017

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

United States

Germany

Britain

France

Canada

Spain

Australia

Russia

Italy

Brazil

424,000

3D desktop

printers sold in

2016 worldwide

Do try this at home

I

N THE litany of bosses’ gripes about Bra-

zil’s inclement business climate, rigid la-

bour laws vie for pride of place with its

convoluted tax laws and its licensing rules

(on everything from health and safety to

protection of cultural heritage). No won-

der: Brazil ranks a miserable 117th out of 138

countries on labour-market efficiency, ac-

cording to the World Economic Forum. Its

rigid labour law wastransplanted from Be-

nito Mussolini’s Italy in 1943. Employers

find it thoroughly unsuited to a modern

economy and cheered on July 13th, when

the president, Michel Temer, signed into

law the biggest overhaul of the unwieldy

statute in 50 years.

The reform is a big victory for the un-

popular Mr Temer, who is under investiga-

tion in a corruption scandal (he denies

wrongdoing). It introduces more flexible

Brazil’s labour reform

Bye-bye, Benito

SÃO PAULO

An overhaul of Mussolini-era labour

laws should encourage job creation