Plans Forum

I think this is a great idea! Plan sharing would be very cool. I have a good couple hundred myself.

As do I from toys to steam engines, to furniture

-- Ray

It seems like a good idea in theory, but I suspect there would be a problem with people posting copyrighted material.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I agree it would have to be moderated. I believe that it is possible though.

-- Ray

I also worry about the copyright issue.

An alternative might be a forum for exchanging sketch-up files. There may be enough sketch-up people in this forum to make it worthwhile and it may be an incentive for others to learn sketch-up.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

Is it a problem to “share” not sell a copyrighted plan? Not asking for money.

I believe the copy right issue could be avoided. If the forum was moderated. Files that were copyrighted would be removed and then poster would would notified that this would not be tolerated. I wonder if there is a way that the files would have to be previewed before they would ba available for all the member to see.

-- Ray

I believe that when we purchase a plan is for our own use only. If we share a plan, or song or movie with someone else then the producer, manufacture is loosing out. It’s an interesting question though if I buy a book with plans for toys, can i give that book away or sell it to another woodworker? It would seam that would be a copyright violation. I guess it would only be a violation if I retained a copy of the orgional.

-- Ray

I would imagine that posting of pdf plans from magazines or websites which were purchased would be a violation of copyright law, same as posting commercially available music, books, etc.

However, there are still many plans out there that are free, and those should be freely shared (with the appropriate reference, always).

A gray area with free plans is the fact that sometimes certain vendors offer plans for free, but only for a limited time. There would need to be some kind of rule that would ensure the plan was currently still available for free, and that might be a lot of work to moderate.

That all being said, there is still plenty of room and demand, I think, for posting of your own plans and sketchup files. We could all greatly benefit from that. Technically, with respect to the commercial plans, sketchup files made from commercially-available plans also avoids copyright problems, though it may not please those plan vendors.

-- Optimists are usually disappointed. Pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised. I tend to be a disappointed pessimist.

I am making plans on Sketchp, I am selling some and some are publish on Google 3D. I think that there should not be a plan sharing on this site or any other site. If somebody want to have a plan, he should search for it on the net and if it is for sale, buy it, or free, download it.

If the SketchUp, PDF or any other version is not publish on the net, it could be tranfered by the author to any one that ask for it.

The control of such a sharing would not be realistic.

That is my view on that subjet

Thank you!

-- http://www.woodcollectortoys.com

I have to disagree with Studeag, sharing is what this site is all about sharing skills, knowledge and experience. That includes plans that individuals have come accross or created as long as they are not copyrighted I see no reason on to share. For instance on Google Books there are several out of print, now public domain books, that contain drawings that could be posted. Searcing the internet is at best a hit and miss process now. You have to filter through so much garbage. If somene has created a plan that they are selling then of course it should not be posted to share. I have a collection of hundreds of plans from tim can toys to jet engins. I still believe that we could control what was posted by moderating the fourm and removing those plans that were in question.

-- Ray

I agree with you live4ever, moderatiing is the key. This could be a great resource.

-- Ray

I don’t have any problems with sharing free plans on the forum, it’s just that copyrighted plans should not be shared, and how could somebody be able to control that?

Thank you!

-- http://www.woodcollectortoys.com

If this were done, the only plans allowed should be those developed by the person posting them.

Even if plans are offered free on one website, copying them to another site is probably a copyright violation, unless you have the specific consent of the person who developed the plans. Copyright law gives the owner of the information the right to control how it is reproduced. Just because an author is willing to give his work away for free doesn’t mean he wants you to offer to give his work away for free.

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

My only problem with using sketchup is that I don’t have the time to learn it, I use SoftPlan, AutoCad, these work great and I can design/Develope anything I want.

I have tried sketch up, it works, but is not a program I currently have any incentive to learn.

I think that if we do a file share, it should be pdf only, with reference to what program it was made on, that way, if someone wants to modify it, they can ask the one who posted it for a file from that program.

-- http://www.ahomespecialist.net, Making design and application one. †