The World's Most Printed 3D Model, 3DBenchy, is Now Open Source!

An anonymous reader writes: The original design was produced by Daniel Norée and Paulo Kiefe at Creative Tools in Sweden, who sought a way to promote their sales of 3D printers by establishing a fun benchmark. Their strategy worked, but Creative Tools eventually moved away from 3D printing and was later acquired by NTI Group, a much larger corporation.

Initially, it was thought that NTI Group had enforced their licensing rights on Printables, but it turned out not to be the case.

Now we see a resolution to this design mess.

In an announcement from NTI Group, they say this:

“3DBenchy, a 3D model designed specifically for testing and benchmarking 3D printers, is now in the public domain. Originally released on April 9, 2015, by Creative Tools, the model has become a beloved icon of the 3D printing community. Following Creative Tools’ acquisition and merger into NTI in 2024, NTI has decided to release 3DBenchy to the world by making it public domain, marking its 10th anniversary with this significant gesture.”

The company has also transferred control of the website 3Dbenchy.com to Daniel Norée and Paulo Kiefe. However, there is one stipulation: that the #3DBenchy “remains publicly available to all.”