Creative Commons

Abstract ! This!dissertation!was!written!as!part!of!the!MA!in!Ar t,!Law!and!Economy!at!the! Inter national!Hellenic!University.! ! 3D!printing!nowadays!bear s!a!resemblance!to!the!personal!computer!revol uO tion,! main ly! due! to! its! quite! affordable! home! versions! compared! to! the! technology! used.! That! encompasses! the! link! between! copyright! and! digital! rights,! which! began! concerning!the!legal!community!initially!as!r egards!movies,!music!and!photos.!The!o nO going!devel opment!of!3D!printing!technologies!and!services!radically!affects!intellect uO al!property!rights!worldwide,!regardless!of!local!legal!regimes.! ! 3D!printing!is!a!hot!topic,!especially!considering!that!the!rece nt!developments! in!the!related!technology!have!enabled!the!printing!of!physical!objects!by!consumers,! which!may!easily!lead!to!mass O production.!Of!course,!such!hypothetic!developments! do!also!involve!infringements!in!almost!all!types!of!IPRs. ! This! paper! ex plores! the! most! interesting! parts! of! the! Intellectual! Property! frameworks!in!the!EU,!UK!and!US!as!regards!the!use!of!3D!printing!technology;!it!fu rO ther!examines!various!issues!that!concern!such!use!and!finally!concludes!with!some ! recommenda tions,! such! as! f or! instance! the! need! for! introducing! different! business! models.