There’s a great short article on the BBC site teeing up some of the issues we’ll be discussing here at Law in the Making:
Thanks to 3D printers, budding counterfeiters could soon create parts or goods themselves. The problem for authorities is that copying physical objects is not always illegal. (link)
As the article notes, the problem is that, unlike most cases of music piracy, copying 3D objects is often not illegal at all. It’s a situation more akin to the invention of the printing press than the launch of Napster. Stay tuned!