It seems unlikely Gerardo was expecting legal advice here. That said, > there is a wealth of copyright knowledge on this list that is useful > when someone wants general information. Some of us deal with copyright > on a regular basis. > > Actually, it seemed like he was directly seeking legal *options*, as protection and ownership of the product of a design is a legal issue. Strangely, the US Copyright office article on "useful articles" seems to be pretty clear. I'd think that without any (known to me) legal precedents, the regulation is pretty much how things work in the US.
If a corporation or business *did* create product from the origami design, practically speaking, I'd think that Gerardo would then have to muster the legal resources to do battle. And against a big company, the outcome is likely to be bad for him. The "other option," though, I'd suggest is public censure and shame. It's not easy to do, but I've seen a few high-profile cases where such things got so much Internet publicity that companies backed down. I can't find any in my notes here now, but I know I've seen them. What I'd recommend, considering that you want to demonstrate original authorship (for social and public concerns, not legal), is that you start posting pictures and information about your model on the web to establish "to the people" you've made the design. Then if your design is used to produce "useful articles," you can appeal to the community and make the purloining company look bad.
