Downloadable 3D cover for MAKERS is now also an article of commerce

The folks at Shapeways surprised me in January with a 3D-printed version of the UK cover for my novel Makers, which had been designed by Shapeways community member Dmitry Kobzar. Mr Kobzar was good enough to release his 3D files under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial license.

Now Shapeways is selling 3D prints of the cover for your delectation in a variety of materials (just in case you don't have a 3D printer of your own with which to run off a copy!). For the record, I don't get any of the proceeds from it -- I just think it's way cool.

Cory Doctorow Makers cover 3D print

Previously:

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

Please tell me how Shapeways is not violating the non-commercial clause of his CC licence? I quote: “You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation.”

Now I should be clear I don’t think Shapeways is evil, more that the NC parts of the CC licensing often does things I suspect the original copyright holder doesn’t realize.
- Anonymous
  
  Remember, the CC license lets the original creator waive any of the limitations if requested. So if Cory’s cool with it, the license is cool with it.
SamSam

I wonder if you’d let us in on how the specific items in this sprue were chosen?

Personally, I always found the UK cover a little less satisfying that the US one, not because it’s not a great image — it is — but because it never seems to resonate with the maker ethos. What does a maker have to do with fast-food? Palm trees? Mass-produced dolls? And does he want everything pre-formed for him in a plastic sprue made in China? (Of course, it’s a little different with 3d-downloadable versions of it, but it still seems cookie-cutter.)

The US cover made sense to me because I could see a maker’s eyes light up on seeing a huge rack of old keyboards, thinking of all the chips and circuitry and random pieces he could harvest from them.

But I’ve only briefly skimmed the book — maybe the cover would make more sense if I read it fully? Or have you written about the cover anywhere? I feel sure that there is more to it than meets the eye.
TheGZeus

Ummm… if it was under a non-commercial license, how are they selling it’s results?

Do they have explicit permission to make a profit here?
gmoke

Name checked you and Makers at the MIT Media Lab talk by Chris Anderson of Wired about his next book about fabbing and open source hardware, tentatively titled “Atoms Are the New Bits.”
Anonymous

‘For the record, I don’t get any of the proceeds from it — I just think it’s way cool. ”

And the fact that you are okay with that – is even cooler.
Anonymous

how very apposite!