If you are going to put something in the public domain, or at the very least on the internet, be prepared to have a problem.
The take away from both of these articles is that once you place any file on a website which boasts sharing files for free as an open source, you no longer control how these files are going to be regulated. True the file was made by you and you have a right to claim it as your own but the problem lies with how you can legally mark the piece as yours. Given the nature of a 3d print as being a click to own object you risk at any moment someone stealing your piece as their own.
I understand the anger associated with having a piece stolen, whether digitally or in a physical sense, but if you leave something out, without a lock and it has significance to you, you are only asking for the worst to happen.
Let’s use an example shall we?
If you have a sandwich shop and you make one specialty sandwich with lots of secret ingredients you would want to keep them hidden. Now if someone was to come in an order this sandwich from you they would be allowed to do so. If someone was to come in and order your sandwich and then recreate it to the best of their abilities, they are allowed to do so unless they market it as their own secret recipe that they came up with. If someone who worked in your kitchen stole the recipe and posted it online for free the blame should not be placed on those who used the recipe but on the employee that stole the recipe. If someone was to come into your shop and get your sandwich and then make another one inspired by your sandwich then they would legally be allowed to do so without issue. If we substitute the sandwich in this scenario with a CAD file we still have the same issue. Unless you give that person permission to use your file they are stealing from you.
The new issue lies within how the Thingiverse open source material plays into this. If we still use the example of a sandwich then you would be posting your recipe online for all to enjoy. That means the file is no longer purely yours, others will use it and some may even attempt to claim it as their own. This in a way is normal for the current generation and without the proper citations it would be stealing to market the files as your own. In that way just3dprint is in the wrong. While they did take the files from Thingiverse, which it sounds as if they are allowed to do so, then their major legal problem is claiming the files as their own, or at the very least, not citing the creator of the files. In this way and only this way they are in the wrong, the rest could be blamed on the person who uploaded the files believing that they alone would be allowed to use their files. By uploading your file to Thingiverse you no longer hold the rights to the object, those rights now fall on Thingiverse as they hold the license.
The remix tool on the Thingiverse website is a perfect example of how their part is no longer theirs. You can download preexisting geometry and then alter it and repost it as your own. But is that file now yours because you remixed it or is it the original makers file? Or do the files now belong to the public domain since you posted it on an open source website? Once again the files belong to Thingiverse before they would belong to you in this scenario. You gave your piece to Thingiverse of your own free will and you posted it by agreeing to their terms and conditions. Under contract they now own your part.
In short if you want to make sure someone doesn’t steal your model and use it as their own DO NOT POST THE FILE FOR OTHER TO USE. Honestly it is that simple. While I disagree with what just3dprint did I have to admit that they did it relatively smartly. Yes they shouldn’t have sold the files for their own profit but they are, in theory at least, within their rights to do so since you handed your file over to Thingiverse.
For another example of whether you can legally print something or not check out this article about the recently 3d scanned and printed statue of Nefertiti which has been in the news lately.
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